


Unquenchable Thirst

by ruff_ethereal



Series: Pyrehearts [2]
Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Riders of the Storm, Bad Puns, Dragon!Akko, Drug-Induced Sex, F/F, Fluff and Smut, Hot Rider-On-Dragon Action, Magic Made Them Do It, Secret Relationship, Semi-Public Sex, Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2018-12-23 05:31:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11983188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruff_ethereal/pseuds/ruff_ethereal
Summary: Akko and Diana's time in the Forest of Beginnings has ended, though their new relationship upgrade is here to stay. Diana wants to keep it mostly under wraps, but her newly awakened libido is making things difficult, to say the least...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> We're sinning from the starting gate and at every leg of this race, folks.

**Sunday, Late Afternoon**

To most students, returning to the hallowed halls of Luna Nova from the Forest of Beginnings was an occasion of great joy and celebration, and the end of a prolonged period of suffering.

For Akko and Diana, however, it was just the beginning of a long, long, _long_ series of unpleasantness, starting with having to deal with Professor Ursula’s having seen the former’s head between the latter’s legs in a scene that was rather impossible to misconstrue as anything _other_ than hot, passionate, dragon-on-rider action.

And though Ursula was able to keep up the polite smile and the feigned obliviousness, Diana and Akko were not nearly as skilled at poker faces. They spent a few moments in painful silence, feeling the mood get more and more awkward, before Diana broke the quiet.

“Professor Ursula, please know that if there is anything— _anything at all_ —I can do to ensure your silence, just say the word and I will use every single connection, power, and privilege I have as a Cavendish to--”

Ursula held up her hand, and smiled. “Diana, Akko, it’s not necessary to bribe or convince me at all, your secret’s safe with me.”

The both of them heaved sighs of relief, before giving Ursula thankful looks. “Thank you, Professor,” Diana said, while Akko just beamed, tearing up at her idol’s giving her even more reason to love her.

Ursula smiled back, before her face turned serious. “If there’s one thing I will have to ask of you two, though, it’s to have a long, deep, and serious discussion about you your relationship upgrade. Believe me, rider-dragon Bonds get VERY complicated once you throw sex into the mix.”

Diana and Akko both nodded, their cheeks burning red. “We were already planning to, Professor Ursula,” Diana replied.

Ursula nodded. “Good. You two can use the ready room, if you’d rather not have this conversation back in your quarters, or elsewhere.”

“It will do just fine,” Diana said as she left, beckoning for Akko to follow.

They exited the warp stone chamber and into the ready room. Akko perched herself on one of the available seats, Diana double-checked that the door was locked behind, before she sat beside Akko on another chair. The two of them looked at each other, quietly collecting their thoughts, all manner of feelings flowing between them:

Nervousness. Embarrassment. Hesitation. Curiosity. Reassurance.

“So...” Akko started, “back there, when you tried to bribe Professor Ursula… does this mean you don’t want other people to know that we’re a thing now…?” she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

Diana nodded. “Yes, but I assure you, Akko, that’s only because I’m not yet ready for the public to know about us—not before I’ve had time to think and prepare for how I’ll reveal our relationship. As you know, with my being a Cavendish, I’m held to a _much_ higher standard than everyone else, and there’s so many conventions and expectations I need to uphold, I can’t just--”

Akko put a hand on her thigh, Diana stopped. “Can I please tell at least Sucy and Lotte?” Akko asked. “I promise I’ll keep them from spilling about it to anyone else, and I _definitely_ won’t go shouting from the rooftops and the spires about how I’m your girlfriend now, even though I _really_ want to.”

Diana looked at her, debated it for a while, before she slowly nodded. “Yes, you may, but just… do it in our room, with me around, please.”

“And have them sign something something so there’s a guarantee that they’ll catch hell if they do…?” Akko added.

“Yes,” Diana said. “Picked that up from our Bond?”

“Yep!”

Diana chuckled. “Hah, looks like it’s going to save us a _lot_ of time and effort with communication...”

Akko nodded. “Mhmm! Still going to be a lot of things better said out loud like this, though: I love you, Diana,” she said, her eyes warm and loving.

Diana blushed. “I love you too, Akko,” she said, before she leaned in, closed her eyes, and kissed her.

_Fwoosh!_

Akko’s dragon fire surged into Diana, rapidly engulfing her entire being, the intense heat concentrated near her stomach. _“Fuck_ me!” she cried as she pulled away, smoke and little tongues of flame pouring out from her lips.

“Oh shit—are you okay, Diana?” Akko asked.

Diana coughed and beat her chest, before she sucked in a deep breath, and exhaled a steady plume of smoke. “I’m fine, I’m fine...” she said, before she stopped, her eyes widening. “… Actually, _no_ , I’m _not_ fine, I’m suddenly feeling _incredibly,_ _ **painfully**_ turned on all over again— _help..._ ” she whimpered as she squirmed in her seat.

“Wow, you’d think your body would have gotten used to my dragon fire by now with how many times we”--Akko made a seductive dragon sound--”back in the Forest,” she said as she slipped off her seat and knelt down between Diana’s legs.

“Well apparently it hasn’t, and still needs your assistance!” Diana cried as she struggled to pull down her pants, Akko taking over and getting them down by her ankles. Her panties were already wet and stained dark with fresh arousal, and Akko couldn’t help but stop and put her nose on it, inhale the scent of her excitement and the remnants of their most recent trysts.

“Akko...” Diana whimpered, looking down at her pathetically, desperate need pouring in her side of the Bond.

“I’m on it, I’m on it!” Akko said as she pulled away, hooked her claws into the band of Diana’s panties, and carefully tugged them down between her thighs. “I’ve got you, Diana, don’t worry,” she said as she put her claw on top of Diana’s pussy. “Ready?”

Diana quickly put her own hand atop Akko’s claw, her fingertips starting to glow as she harnessed her magic. “Ready.”

Their Bond tattoos pulsed and thrummed, the ruby red swirls on Diana flowing like water, the icy blue streaks on Akko thrumming and humming like a fire. Diana whimpered and moaned as she felt hot, slippery fluid form over her pussy and Akko’s claw, till they were both soaked and drooling with it.

Enchanted lube was a temporary solution at best, dissipating very quickly without a sustained effort to replenish it; but with Diana leaking ever more arousal as Akko rubbed her nails up and down her pussy, and her serpentine tongue licking and toying at her clit, they needn’t have worried about that.

“ _Ooh...”_ Diana moaned as she leaned back into the chair and grabbed the back of Akko’s head. “Y-Yes, Akko, please, keep going...”

Akko hummed in reply, her pointed ears twitching as she buried her face back between Diana’s legs, pressed her lips and tongue against Diana’s pussy lips. Diana moaned and gasped, whispering increasingly heated and breathless words to Akko, literal steam escaping from her lips.

Technically, their Bond was more than enough for Akko to get an accurate read of whatever Diana was feeling at any moment… but really, there was just _something_ about hearing Diana say it out loud, the worsening warbles and tremours in her voice, the moans and the whimpers in between her words, some of them cut short by a gasp or a moan.

A hot puddle of her Diana’s arousal began to on the seat of her chair, trickling across the worn-smooth wood and to the tiles below them. Her panties started to stretch, the metal buckles and zippers of her pants clinked and jingled as she spread her legs wider. The dragon fire inside of her started to burn hotter and hotter, making every last sensation all the more intense, the pleasure consuming and overwhelming her thoughts till it was all she could think about, all she _wanted,_ all she _needed..._

… Then, suddenly, Akko stopped, the flames suddenly turning into a painful, hungry gnawing now that they she wasn’t feeding and stoking them.

“Akko...?” Diana whispered, tendrils of smoke pouring out of her mouth, her eyes wide open and wild.

Akko pulled her face from between Diana’s legs, her lips and scaley cheeks shiny and dripping with her arousal. “I want to put your chair against the wall, so I can climb on, claw-fuck you and kiss you without either of us falling off. Can I?”

Diana trembled, the heat inside her exploding like you’d just dumped a barrel of gasoline on it. “Get rid of your clothes and do it— **now**.”

Akko’s clothes burned into cinders, revealing her bare skin, her bright red scales, and the patterns of her Bond tattoos few ever saw. She effortlessly picked Diana and her chair up, carefully walking forward and putting them right up against the wall.

She checked to see if it would move, and when it didn’t budge, Akko climbed on, kneeling in the space between Diana’s legs, one claw on the wall for balance, the other already back on her pussy.

Diana looked down and watched, crying out and panting as Akko slipped her arousal-soaked nails into her, effortlessly pumping them in and out. Lewd, wet noises filled the air, the drip-drip of Diana’s arousal spilling onto the tile growing more and more frequent, and Akko’s own starting to join the mess.

“Diana?”

Diana looked up, saw Akko’s eyes, crackling and burning with lust and dragon fire. They started to close as she leaned in for a kiss, and shot wide open after Diana grabbed the sides of her head, lunged forward, and closed the distance.

Lips locked, tongues slipped into mouths and tangled with each other, muffled moans of pleasure rumbled in throats. Akko kept on pumping her nails in and out of Diana’s sopping wet pussy, arousal pouring and spilling out onto the seat and the floor, splattering onto Diana’s inner thighs, dripping from Akko’s claws. They pulled away for breath, Diana grabbed onto Akko’s shoulders, tilted her head back and cried out, feeling the fire inside her grow into a massive inferno, every last fiber of her being alight, before finally...

“ _Akko…!”_

The dragon fire inside Diana _exploded_ , a flash of white coming over her vision, before her whole body shook and writhed from the shockwave, her pussy spasming and gushing like crazy onto Akko’s nails and claw, very literal smoke pouring out her mouth, her fingernails digging and scratching at her scaly shoulders, before they fell away, limp.

Diana alternated between coughing up smoke and sucking in air she sank into her chair, sweat pouring down every inch of her skin, her body still shaking from her orgasm. Akko pulled her claws out from between her legs and hugged her, pressing her naked chest up against Diana’s soaked shirt, affectionately nuzzling her cheek, their Bond tattoos glowing as Akko absorbed the excess heat from her.

Soon, Diana’s breathing calmed, her heart began to beat at a normal pace, and the overwhelming heat disappeared, replaced by a pleasant warmth washing all over her body as she melted into a puddle of sweating, smoking, _satisfied_ goo.

Akko hummed as she pulled away, giving Diana an affectionate lick on the cheek. “I love you, Diana,” she murmured.

“I love you too, Akko,” Diana whispered breathlessly, her lips curling into a smile as tendrils of smoke lazily poured out of it.

They relaxed for a few moments more, before Akko climbed off, helped Diana onto a different, drier chair, and started looking for something to clean themselves up. She was in the middle of grabbing one of the towels when they both heard a knocking on the door.

“Girls?” Ursula asked. “Uh, I’d just like you both to know that the walls here aren’t soundproof, there’s a company of Freelancers coming here soon, and there’s deodorizing sprays under the sink.”

Akko and Diana’s eyes widened, their faces burning red all over again.

In record time, the ready room was cleaned up and the evidence of their tryst literally or figuratively burned, Diana was dressed and groomed, Akko was saddled and loaded up with all their bags. They were soon out the dragon-sized door and back to the campus proper, Akko rushing through the crowds as quickly and steadily as possible, Diana riding on her saddle and resisting the urge to wince with each step, the two of them keenly avoiding eye contact with anyone they passed by, human, dragon, or Fae folk.

Thankfully, it was standard practice to assume that anyone coming back from the Forest just wanted to get back to their dorm, a Bonded pair or a company of Freelancers.

* * *

_CRASH!_

Akko plowed through the balcony side doors of their room, the sturdy wooden bars breaking in a shower of splinters, Akko herself skidding and spinning across the marble floor until she crashed into the giant air bags on the far-wall.

 _THOOMPH_!

Diana wheezed, her knuckles turning white as she tightened her grip on the reins of her saddle, and Akko climbed out of the cushions. She undid the straps of their bags, letting them fall to the floor with heavy thuds, the clatter of some of their equipment and clothes spilling out.

On any other day, Diana would have demanded she put them all away properly, but all she could think about now was getting into the miniature hot spring that was their “bathroom.”

Akko made a beeline for it, Diana wincing and whimpering as she bounced about on the saddle. Akko slowed to a stop at the shallow end, carefully picked Diana up, and lowered her down into the water. Diana yelped and tensed up as she sank past her waist, before she sighed happily and relaxed.

Akko transformed into her humanoid form, naked but for her saddle, now in the shape of a leather body harness. “Is there anything I can do to help, Diana?” she asked as she leaned on the edge of the pool.

“Can you please get me out of my clothes again, and get my comm-crystal out, too...?” Diana asked.

Akko nodded. Soon, Diana’s clothes and Akko’s saddle were hung up to dry on the side, and the both of them were in the water, Diana resting her head on Akko’s shoulder, their comm-crystals resting nearby on the rim.

“Better now…?” Akko asked after a few minutes of pleasant silence.

“ _Much_ better...” Diana said. “Though I’m rather certain I shouldn’t do anything but lie down and read for the rest of the day...”

“We really need a plan for when we”--Akko made a seductive dragon sound. “We _definitely c_ an’t just keep doing like we did back in the Forest.”

“Agreed...” Diana replied, frowning. “I’m going to start remaking both of our schedules: we’re going to need a _lot_ more ‘bonding time’ from here on out.”

Akko chuckled. “Geez, Diana, planning to make up for lost time?”

Diana blushed. “W-Well, yes, I am! But more importantly, this a manner of practicality; I’ve studied most every book and material about the Dragon-Rider Bond, and I _know_ that pairs that get intimate for the first time tend to get rather… enthusiastic about it in the beginning, due to the novelty of it all.

“Regardless of how active our respective libidos are from here on out, I’d rather we have to fill in free time, than struggle to find more of it in the heat of the moment.”

Akko snorted, steam trickling from her nostrils.

Diana blushed harder. “Pun not intended...”

Akko’s face softened. “Do you want me to go get some supplies from the dispensary?”

Diana nodded. “Please do, though be discrete about it: just the absolute essentials, a day or two’s worth for the moment. I don’t want anyone connecting the dots this soon...”

“I will,” Akko said. “I could go right now, if you’d like; they stock stuff for aftercare, too, and I’m sure they’ll have something for you.”

Diana hummed. “That would be excellent, thank you.”

Akko kissed Diana on the cheek. A burning mark in the shape of her lips glowed on the skin for a moment, before it faded away. “I love you, Diana, see you soon,” Akko said as she got out of the water.

“I love you too, Akko, and please, take your time if it means throwing off suspicion,” Diana replied as she grabbed her comm-crystal from the side.

Diana spent the next fifteen minutes remaking their schedules, and sending out all manner of messages to the various establishments and organizations of Luna Nova. It pained her to see all the replies _begging_ her to reconsider cutting them off from her time and expertise, but thankfully, no one argued when she said she needed time to herself and Akko.

Figuring out how they were going to be doing things now that they were getting intimate counted as “newly arisen, unexpected issues” with their Bond, right?

She spent the rest of the hour taking a proper bath with soap, water, and no hot rider-on-dragon action, dressing in her most comfortable nightgown, then laying on her bed, reviewing the lessons and upcoming quizzes and exams now that they were back in Luna Nova.

It was shaping up to be a peaceful, quiet night settling back into school life, until Akko came rocketing back in dragon form, several massive crates strapped to her sides and back.

_THOOMPH!_

Diana’s eyes widened as she looked past her tablet and at Akko struggling to pull herself out of the deep crater in the air bags. She quickly put it down, got off her bed, and stormed off to Akko, wincing and slowing down as her pussy began to ache once more.

“Ilaya’s Grace, Akko, what did you not understand about ‘the absolute essentials?!’” she cried as she got near.

“That’s what I told them!” Akko said as stepped past their saddlebags from earlier. “But they wouldn’t let me leave unless I brought ALL of this back!” she replied,

Diana grimaced; with Akko’s well-known clumsiness, ineptitude, and penchant for causing all manner of collateral damage, she probably shouldn’t have been so surprised the dispensary staff would cover every singe base they could think of.

If it was any comfort, the crates looked just like any other, meaning passersby couldn’t have even begun to guess about the contents, or assumed it was any number of innocent, inconspicuous supplies. For all they knew, it could have just been an extra large shipment of the things they needed regularly.

However, there was still another concern: “What in Isigrol did they give you?” Diana asked.

Akko pulled out a messenger tube from one of the crates; Diana opened it, and found a shipping manifest. Aside from the delivery of their usual enchanted fire extinguishers, useful potions and drugs for an avid magic-user like Diana, and nutritional supplements for Akko, there was an incredibly large number of items for sex, be they for protection like heat-resistant “claw covers,” for aftercare like “Rough Rider’s Remedy (TM) Topical Ointment: ‘Flaming Hot Special,’” or even for helping aiding the act itself, like “Rough Rider’s Remedy (TM) ’Supernova’ Sexual Lubricant.”

Diana was well aware that Luna Nova was avid to keep its reputation as being very well-stocked, in spite of the declining enrollment rates realm-wide, but it wasn’t until that moment that she truly realized just _how_ well.

“Do they expect us to use _all_ of this…?” she whispered, embarrassed beyond relief.

“Probably not!” Akko said. “I guess they just assumed I’d be getting steamy pretty often. That, or I’d end up with a LOT of people and folks who _really_ can’t handle dragon fire.”

Diana nodded. Out of morbid curiosity, she opened one of the crates; inside were incredibly large sealed packages, all of them labeled “Flying Dragon’s Large.” She sighed as she turned to Akko. “Couldn’t you have at least mentioned that you’re getting intimate with a human? There’s no way we can use these things!” she said as she gestured to them.

Akko couldn’t blush in dragon form, but the look that came over her face was evidence enough, the embarrassed feelings pouring in from their Bond only confirming it. “Uh, actually… we kinda can...” she muttered.

Diana raised eyebrows at her, before she looked back at the box. She hadn’t noticed it earlier, but there was a small, definitely human-sized box attached to one of the corners. She opened it, found several vials; she picked one of them off its holster, and read the label:

“Fuck Physics (TM) Alchemical Sex Aid: ‘You bet your ass it’s going to fit!’”

Diana’s face turned red. She slowly, carefully put it back in place, closed the box, pulled the lid back on the crate, and made sure every single locking mechanism on it was securely in place. “… I’m going to go to bed now, Akko… don’t bother cleaning up, we can sort this all out Tuesday after class, among other things...” she muttered as she began to leave for her side of the room.

“Wait, Diana!” Akko cried, before she started opening crates, found and pulled out a box of something. “Take this—the menders said it’ll help with your uh, problem,” she said with the box between her teeth.

Diana took the partially soggy and bitten cardboard box, and read the label. “Rough Rider’s Remedy (TM) Vaginal Suppository: ‘Lady’s Lifesaver.’” Her face continued burning red. “… Thank you, Akko, that was very considerate of you...” she mumbled.

“You need some help getting it in?” Akko said. “I know I always do when it comes to backdoor deliveries.”

Diana shook her head as she carried the box off with her. “I’ll manage on my own, Akko; remember, us humans are a lot more flexible than you dragons.”

Akko giggled. “Don’t I know it...” she purred.

Diana scowled and kept blushing. “New rule: no sexual innuendo, or intentionally riling me up in public.”

“Got it!” Akko said, puffing up her chest as she rose in attention, before the two of them went their separate ways, Diana to her bed, and Akko to her nest in one corner. They settled back in and went to sleep soon, ready to go back to their normal lives in Luna Nova, save their new, secret for the moment romantic relationship.

… Or so they thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sunday, Late Night**

Diana lay on her side in bed, staring at the far wall, unable to sleep.

The luxurious sheets were freshly laundered, the pillows fluffed, and the entire area around her completely in order, everything exactly as she left it the day she and Akko left for the Forest of Beginnings, or exactly how she expected it to be with the incredibly specific instructions she’d left for the housekeeping imps.

Even the Rough Rider’s Remedy had done its job quickly and well, her pussy no longer feeling sore nor burned.

The reason was rather obvious: for the past few weeks since that fateful night at the lake where Akko had taken her virginity, they had been sleeping together, either snuggled up together in Akko’s humanoid form, or Diana nestled in the crook of her neck while she was in dragon form.

“Akko, we’re going to have to learn how to start sleeping separately again,” Diana had said a week earlier. “We can’t keep waiting for the other to lay down beside us before we can even start dozing off.”

“Aww, do we really have to?” Akko replied, giving Diana the dragonic equivalent of a pouting face.

“Yes,” Diana replied. “Our schedules simply won’t allow it, with how important it is for me to to get to sleep on time, and how erratic and spontaneous your activities and adventures can be alongside your sleep schedule.”

Akko sighed, billowing out a thick trail of steam from her nostrils. “Okay… but can we do it little by little, so we can still cuddle at night? It gets really cold out here and all...” she said, smiling hopefully.

“But of course, Akko,” Diana said, ignoring the part of her mind that was warning that this could be a very bad idea indeed with some serious future consequences.

She just hadn’t realized that the one who’d have trouble sleeping was her, not Akko.

It was rather impressive, how someone so full of wild, uncontrollable energy like her could switch off just like that, her massive dragon form currently curled up in her fire-proof nest, her breathing slow and steady, clear smoke pouring out of her nostrils at a regular pace like a machine.

She supposed that was one of the many reasons she was that way in the first place: she could just get rest whenever there was even the briefest opportunity to, able to recharge her batteries almost anywhere and at any time.

How unfortunate that she could not be nearly as lucky.

Diana sighed, and turned in bed, debating opening her comm-crystal and getting more of her assignment backlog done, but with her workload intentionally light for the time being, and her canceling so many of her arrangements with the various organizations of Luna Nova, she didn’t have much she could do.

Well, unless she wanted to do something so boring, rote, and time consuming like manually fixing and solving the efficiency issues with the Classic Media Club’s holo archive, but Diana wasn’t _that_ desperate for something to occupy her time.

“Why not wake-up Akko and ask her for some help?” quietly suggested a part of Diana’s brain. “She always leaves you ready to pass out at any moment, among other things~”

“Absolutely not,” she thought back, scowling as her cheeks turned red.

… A solution of that vein wasn’t entirely ruled out, though.

Diana blushed even more as she rolled onto her stomach and planted her knees on her bed, hiking up her nightgown then pulling down her panties. She hadn’t masturbated in bed for a long time—not since she first discovered this new aspect of her body, one she had to keep secret from the servants, company, and her family, and _especially_ out of the awareness of her numerous freelancing or aspiring permanent partners throughout the years.

But maybe now was a good time to restart the habit. After all, she had total privacy up in this tower, and Akko certainly wouldn’t mind if she woke-up and saw her like this...

Diana bit her lip, feeling herself grow _very_ turned on at that thought. Ilaya, what would she do if she did catch her like this? “Probably start by asking why I’m just here, presenting myself and not even doing anything...” she thought to herself with a little chuckle.

“… I _really_ should fix that.”

She reached between her legs and put her fingers on her pussy, gasping as she touched it. It wasn’t quite Akko’s claws, constantly warm and pumping dragon-fire into her, and she missed that thrill of her nails gently scratching her inner walls, but it wasn’t as if she didn’t have her own tricks.

She began to rub up and down her length, her fingertips glowing as she siphoned off and gathered her arousal, keeping it from going to waste dripping down her thighs or onto her sheets, putting it to much better use making her fingers nice and slick, or spreading their warmth all over the rest of her pussy.

“Mmmnn...”

Way on the other side of their luxurious quarters, Akko snorted, a tiny lick of steam erupting from her nostrils, before she went back to sleep.

Diana didn’t notice, too far away, and too busy focusing on the lewd, delightful sounds of her slick fingers on her drooling pussy. She bit her lip, moaning and giggling as she began to ease a finger in, grinding her chest against her bed, her nipples hardening as they rubbed against the soft, smooth silk of her nightgown.

“Aaahnn~!” she gasped as she slipped her finger in, the glow on her skin fading as her concentration broke, her arousal raining and leaking all over her sheet and her inner thighs as her magic lost its hold.

Back then, this would have meant a frantic, unwanted break from the action as she tried to make sure her mess wouldn’t be _too_ big and suspicious; now, she just moaned as she started to pump her finger in and out, feeling her warm, silky walls grow wetter and wetter…

This time, Akko completely woke-up, confused, figuratively and literally getting hot and bothered as sexual pleasure and wordless beckoning poured in through Diana’s side of the Bond. It wasn’t so much a gentle hand trailing on her cheek and coaxing her to follow it, so much as an enthusiastic army of imps surrounding her, hoisting her up in the air, and carting her away.

Curious, Akko went along for the ride.

Diana put her other hand between her legs, whimpered as she spread herself open, panting and drooling from how _exposed_ she was, shaking as she started to slip in another finger, and another, finding out just how much she could fit inside of her now, delighted, scandalized giggles escaping her lips.

“ _I_ _should have never stopped masturbating in bed,”_ she thought. Sure, the bathroom was much more convenient, most assuredly private, she frequently didn’t even need to put any effort into erasing the evidence, and had a nigh unlimited supply of hot water for all kinds of “alternative applications” for her magic, but it just didn’t have the feel of her smooth, silky sheets and nightgown on her skin, the softness of her bed letting her take whatever position she wanted in comfort and ease, the--

“ _Diana?”_

\--Dragon partner, roommate, and girlfriend who you could wake-up, and have walk in on you...

Diana looked back, her nightgown hiked up over her rear and bunched on her lower back, her legs spread wide open, her arousal-slick fingers inside her drooling pussy, her cheeks burning bright red, her lips open in a small “o,” and her eyes wide in surprise and embarrassment.

From the railing that separated the dragon and humanoid halves of their room, Akko smiled sheepishly—an impressive feat, with a muzzle, razor sharp teeth, scales, and bony protrusions on her face. “You uh, you need a claw…?” she asked.

“ _Ilaya have mercy on me,”_ Diana thought as she bit her lip. She quickly pulled her fingers out of her pussy, pulled her nightgown back down over herself, and awkwardly rolled over to a seating position, legs closed but her panties still between her ankles.

“I-I’m sorry, did I—did I wake you…?” she asked, briefly wondering just _how_ noisy had she been.

“Yeah, kinda,” Akko replied, “I couldn’t actually hear you from over there, but there was a whole lotta”--she made a seductive dragon sound--”coming from your end of the Bond.”

Diana blinked. “O-Oh.”

Akko gestured her head towards the balcony-side doors. “I can leave, if you want to finish up in private,” she said.

“No, _please_ —don’t go, I don’t want to inconvenience you because of me...” Diana replied. She paused. “… _Actually,_ you could stay and watch me…?” she quickly looked away. “… If… if you’d like to, I mean...”

Akko blinked, before her lips slowly spread into a grin. “Just a few questions: you want me watching you in dragon, or humanoid form? And do you want me getting off while you get off, too?”

Diana chewed her lip, pondering her choices, feeling herself getting hot and bothered whichever one she chose, but unable to decide. “Pick for me, please?”

Akko hummed, a figurative and literal spark of mischief in her eyes. “Help me clear a path, please,” she said, gesturing her head to all the ancient tomes, artefacts, and odd magitechnical devices Diana had laying around in her side of the room.

Diana nodded and got off her bed. The two worked for a few minutes putting everything away or just shoving them to the side, giving Akko enough room to climb over the railing and walk without crushing anything. The ancient wooden floors creaked under her weight, her claws clicking and scratching at the finish, but the Celestial Spires were some of the most durable structures in all of Luna Nova, and theirs was no exception.

Diana walked back to her bed, Akko trailing just behind her, her hot, excited breath pouring down over her; Diana sat down on the edge, Akko laid herself down, her head resting just before Diana, her massive ruby eyes focused on her.

Whatever position she chose, there was no doubt that Akko was going to get a good view; as Diana’s cheeks began to heat up, her heart began to beat a lot faster, and her pussy started to get wet all over again, she started to think about what position exactly she’d use for their very first…

“ _Well, no need to overthink things,”_ she thought.

She sat up straight, legs held together, hands in her lap. Her lips began to spread into a smile as she shrugged off the straps of her nightgown and tugged it down, saw Akko’s eyes following the ever lowering fabric, till she stopped just right over her chest.

Diana leaned back and put her hands mark on her bed, giggling softly as she spread her legs open again; she gasped as she felt a wave of Akko’s hot breath pour over her body, hummed as she felt traces of that familiar enchanted heat start to seep into her.

“Getting excited…?” Diana whispered as she started to bring a hand back between her legs, fingers lazily dancing over her stomach.

“Mhmm...” Akko rumbled back. “I can smell so much of you even from here...”

Diana narrowed her eyes. “Don’t stick your nose in to try and get a good whiff like you usually do...” she said sternly. “… Tonight, at least,” she added, her expression turning playful once more.

“Got it, got it,” Akko said, her breaths getting shallower and hotter. “So, uh, when are you going to get on with the main event, if you don’t mind me asking…?”

“Patience, Akko,” Diana hummed as her hand slipped between her thighs, pulling the skirt of her nightgown higher, baring more skin for Akko. “All good things come in time...”

Akko whined, her eyes burning with anticipation.

Diana shifted about, pulling the front of nightgown right up to her stomach, her wet pussy exposed to Akko, her breasts and her hardened nipples following suit. She began to pant she felt Akko’s hot breath pour over the sensitive skin, sweat starting to drip down her body.

Diana looked up at Akko, watching her eyes intently following her hand as it crawled off her nightgown and brushed past her bush, switch to her pussy as she placed two fingers on either side of her pink, glistening lips, and spread herself _wide_ open.

“Aaahhn...~”

Akko let loose a giant blast of hot breath. Most people would have had issues with getting enveloped in flame dragon’s breath, to say the least, but Diana just closed her eyes as it blew past her, ruffle up the locks of her hair, strengthen the pleasant heat between her legs on her chest.

“Sorry!” Akko said. “Do you want me to step back?”

“I’ll say if and when it gets too much, Akko,” Diana hummed as she opened her eyes again. She began to slip her middle finger into her pussy, teasingly working it back into her self, gasping and moaning as she did. “F-For now, just watch...”

And watch Akko did, the fire within her and Diana’s display only getting hotter and hotter, working more fingers into herself, pumping them in and out of her slick, drooling folds, her other hand reaching up to grope a breast.

Diana had planned for this to be a slow, teasing show, less of the passionate, fiery bursts their sex usually was, but it was hard not to get swept up in the excitement and arousal from Akko’s side of the Bond, the heat as her breaths started to turn fiery, her own growing need for orgasm.

There was a part of her that wondered: was all this excitement just from the newness of their Bond, the experience so heightened because of the novelty? Was she secretly an exhibitionist for all this time, never realizing she wanted an audience for something that was supposed to be so private until now? Or was it all on Akko, one of those side-effects of the Bond where certain preferences, traits, and ideals could unintentionally cross-over to the other half of a pair and become their own?

As Diana fell back on her bed, balls of her feet planted on the floor as she lifted her hips up in the air, fingers pistoning in and out of her sopping wet pussy or groping and toying with a breast, she decided:

“Fuck it, I’ll figure it out later.”

Diana’s pace slowed as she neared her orgasm, the air filled with the lewd, noises of her masturbating, Akko’s heated, shallow breaths, Diana’s own whimpers and moans. Her hands and her Bond tattoos started to glow as her magic surged and swelled inside of her, the pressure building up until she could take no more, and cried:

“A-Akko, I’m _cumming…!”_

Diana’s magic went wild as she came, waves of pleasure of intense pleasure surging all throughout her body, her arousal gushing and squirting all over Akko’s scaley snout, hot and glowing a faint ice blue. She looked up, feeling her heart beat faster as she watched Akko’s lick all that mess clean off her snout, hear her hum in pleasure after.

“ _Akko? Change for me and come over her, please,”_ she said mentally.

Akko did, now standing naked before Diana. She grinned as she gave her pussy a few more shaky, weak pumps, before she pulled her dripping wet hand out, and held it up to her. _“Want_ _some more..._ _?”_

Akko grinned back. “I was just going to ask,” she said out loud, before her serpentine tongue was wrapping around her fingers, licking and tickling her palm, noisily slurping and licking Diana’s arousal off, before Akko took them into her mouth, razor sharp teeth gently raking across her skin as sucked up the rest.

Akko pulled away, her tongue rapidly mopping up the spit and arousal dripping from her lips. She smiled and hummed, before she looked sheepishly at Diana. “Hey Diana… can I kiss you?” she asked.

“Only if you help get ready to go to back to sleep,” Diana murmured.

“Deal.”

Akko gently picked her up and laid her back up with her pillows at the head of the bed, pulling her nightgown back on her, and making sure she was laying on the side least soaked and stained with her arousal.

Akko bent down, Diana leaned up, and they shared a kiss—a little spark than a blaze surging into Diana’s body this time, but no less wonderful.

“Good night, Diana,” Akko said as she pulled away. “I love you.”

“Good night, Akko,” Diana mumbled as yawned and closed her eyes. “I love you too...”

Still awash in the warmth of her afterglow, she fell asleep immediately.

* * *

**Monday, Morning**

Diana woke up with a warm, bright beam of sunshine on her face. She let out a happy hum as she got up and stretched, feeling so much better than any other morning in recent memory. She debated against using their Bond to wake up Akko as usual—she had rudely woken her up last night, she deserved to catch up on some of the sleep she’d lost—until she looked at her comm-crystal on her bedside table, a holographic projection of the time active, its digits shaking and flashing red.

Diana’s eyes widened.

“ _Fuck.”_


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would REALLY appreciate some comments to know how I'm doing and how you folks are liking (or not liking) this story.

**Monday, Morning**

Diana burst through the doors of her first class, two seconds to spare before she was officially declared absent. The servant pixies yelped as a few of them almost got slammed into the wood and the far wall, the students near the entrance instinctively pulling back as Diana rushed past them.

The rest of the class and Professor Pisces watched as she made her way up the aisles, frantically weaving through her classmates and throwing out excuses and apologies, before she finally plunked herself down in her seat, between her friends Barbara and Hannah.

The two girls looked at Diana, noted the untamed strands of her hair going every which way, the buttons of her vest left undone or put in the wrong hole, and the look of exhaustion and panic on her face, her eyes wild, sweat pouring down her skin, and her breath coming in pants.

Pisces recovered, quietly noted Diana as late, not absent in the tiny, waterproof ledger inside her bowl, and began the day’s lesson.

Hannah and Barbara thought of asking her questions, but Diana’s focus was suddenly entirely on the class and her notes, as usual; reluctantly, the two of them followed suit...

“ _Diana got you up all night again, Akko?”_

… Amanda, however, had no such reservations.

She, Akko, and Constanze were in General Magitechnology class, the third busy doing most of the day’s project as usual, the other two talking through a temporary Link, claws held underneath their work table to avoid suspicion.

“ _Ah, yeah, kinda,”_ Akko replied. _“I mean, it wasn’t_ all _night, but we were up late.”_

Amanda rolled her eyes. _“_ _Mithros, does she even understand the_ concept _of ‘_ _rest and relaxation_ _,’ or is she just all work_ _ing_ _,_ _studying,_ _and training, all the time?_ _Y_ _ou two just got back_ _from_ six weeks _in the Forest, what did she even have you do...?”_

Akko tensed up slightly. _“Oh, you know, stuff, and… things.”_

Amanda raised an eyebrow, intrigued. _“Mhmm. What_ kind _of ‘stuff’ and ‘things?’”_

“ _Stuff and things between me and Diana, that neither of us want other people knowing,”_ Akko replied. _“Look, can we change the subject?”_

Amanda snorted. “Hell no! _The most interesting shit that goes on in this school always_ _tends to_ _revolve around you two;_ _I want in on the action before I hear about it second-hand.”_

Akko sighed. _“_ _Okay, you’ve got a point.”_

“ _Fuck yeah I do! Now come on, spill!”_ Amanda smiled warmly at Akko. _“Don’t you trust me to keep a secret?”_

Akko frowned. _“I_ _do_ _, but_ _I can’t_ _with this, Amanda, sorry,”_ she said before she pulled her hand away, then severed the Link.

Amanda grumbled as the glow of Freelancer’s mark faded. “Oh come on, Akko,” she whispered, “it can’t be _that_ private, can it?”

“ _Yes it is!”_ Akko whispered back.

“What, did you two finally--” Amanda discretely made a seductive dragon sound, with a little “?” at the end you could hear.

Akko blushed, steam pouring out of her nostrils.

Amanda’s eyes widened. She immediately grabbed Akko’s hand, her mark flashing as she tried to reestablish their Link. _“Holy shit, holy shit,”_ Akko “heard” barging into her brain, _“did you guys finally fuck?!”_

“Ms. O’Neill! Ms. Kagari!” Professor Croix called out. “Would you two like share with the rest of the class whatever it is that’s got you both riled up, or will one of you switch seats with Ms. von Braunschbank-Albrechtsberger and let the rest of us work in peace?!”

Akko and Amanda flinched, looking like dawngrazers being pounced upon by a silverfang, before Amanda sheepishly switched seats with Constanze. She glared at her two partners, before she quietly pulled the day’s contraption and her tools towards her, and went back to work.

The rest of the class was spent in painful silence, the distress clear on both Akko and Amanda’s faces, tails swishing about nervously, claws fidgeting, Akko’s wings instinctively tensing to help her bolt from potential danger.

Constanze soon finished up her section of the work, pointing at the both of them in turn, at the simple jobs and parts they were supposed to do and install, before she packed up her personal tools and got _well_ out of the way. Akko started turning dials and tuning resonator crystals, Amanda pretended to slot in power cells as she grabbed Akko’s wrist, her mark flashing once again.

“ _Shit, Akko,_ _you can’t just leave me hanging like this! I need to know if you and Diana”_ \--she frantically made a seductive dragon sound.

“ _And why’s_ that?” Akko whined.

“ _Because me and the others made bets about when or if you two would screw, and I’m about to lose a WHOLE lot of money if you two did!”_

Akko’s eyes widened. _“You guys_ what?!”

_Fwoom!_

“AAAAAHHHH!” Amanda screamed as dragon-fire spiked from Akko’s wrist and into her claw.

The power cell she was holding flew up into the air, she and Akko both stood up to try and catch it. Constanze’s eyes widened as she pointed at and tried to alert them of protective gloves they were supposed to put on, but it was too late: the cell slipped out of Amanda’s claws, her nails rupturing the casing, dragon-fire surged into the breaches as Akko wrapped her nails around it, her magic reacting to the _highly_ volatile substances inside.

The normally green colour of the power cell turned an ominous, ferociously glowing and pulsing ruby red, Akko and Amanda stared at as Constanze, Croix, and every other student in the lab ducked for cover.

_Boom._

Diana waved the chemical cloud from her face, thankful for her and her friends’ safety masks shielding them from the worst of it. Hannah and Barbara stopped screaming and slowly let go of each other, eyeing the potion bottle in front of them warily.

“I hate combat recipe days...” Barbara muttered.

“Now, now, girls, knowing how to synthesize a Choking Horror and other volatile potions while you’re out in the field is a valuable skill,” Diana said as she waited for the bubbling solution to settle, before she put it off their camping burner and held it in her gloved hands. The runes on the back of the leather started to glow as she channeled her magic, and faded as Hannah put a hand on Diana’s wrist.

Diana looked at her curiously. “Did I miss something, Hannah?” she asked, calm on the outside, sweating on the inside, worry rapidly gnawing at her.

“Well, no, not really, you got it all right as usual, it’s just… I think you should charge it with mana water, instead of pumping in your magic like you usually do.”

“Well why’s that?” Diana asked, carefully putting the potion bottle down on their lab table, one hand on the base, the other on the neck, as was proper.

Hannah and Barbara looked at each other. Their masks hid most of their features, but the hesitation on their faces was clear as day regardless. “You’re really off today, Diana...” Hannah started.

“Actually, really, _really_ off, and not just today,” Barbara continued. “Ever since you and Akko got back from the Forest, you’ve _changed.”_

Diana laughed to keep from panicking. “Girls, it’s just been a day! How can you say with such confidence that I’ve changed?”

“Well, there was yesterday, when you rode Akko straight past everyone and everything like a missile; you didn’t even notice us when we waved and said hi...” Hannah replied.

“I wanted to get back to our room immediately,” Diana replied. “You can understand how much I’d be desperate for my own bed after sleeping in tents, bags, caves, and trees for the last six weeks, right?”

Neither of them looked convinced. “Then we heard that you suddenly quit every single one of your clubs and extra curriculars—all the presidents and organizers were so freaked out that you gave notice to all of them, all in the same night, and same hour,” Barbara said.

“Really worried and curious, too...” Hannah added.

The runes on Diana’s gloves started glowing as her magic got riled up along with her. “I made my reason clear, and they said they understood. You of all people should know that anything involving Akko will be rather time-consuming, and best given plenty of room for the unexpected, right?”

They ignored her. “And _then_ you came in late for class this morning, and you looked like a complete disaster,” Hannah continued. “You’re _always_ early, or right on time, and _always_ look perfect—except for today.”

“What happened back in the Forest, Diana?” Barbara asked. “Did anything serious go down between you and Akko…?”

“We just want to help you, Diana, honest...” Hannah added, before the two of them looking at her with concerned, caring eyes.

The Choking Horror potion started to bubble and roil; too busy looking at each other, none of them noticed. The three of them continued to stare at each other, the mood growing tense, before Diana soon relaxed, the glow of her gloves’ runes fading, and the solution settling down as if nothing had happened.

She looked at Hannah and Barbara in turn and said, “Hannah, Barbara, I understand you two are concerned for me, but _please_ : trust me when I say I can deal with this all by myself, and prefer to do so. Should I need your help, I won’t hesitate to ask for it, but right now, the best thing you can do for me is to give me my privacy, and your words that you won’t intrude.

“Would that be okay…?”

Hannah and Barbara looked displeased, but relented. “Okay, Diana...” they said. “We trust you.”

Diana beamed. “Good! Now, with that out of the way, let’s get back to the day’s work, shall we?” she asked.

Barbara pulled out some containers of mana water, Hannah got a measuring tool normally for alchemy on the go. “Be sure to double-check the amounts,” Diana said, “it’s _frighteningly_ easy to overcharge Horror-class potions like this.”

Hannah and Barbara did, found the amount correct, and poured it in.

_Boom._

* * *

**Monday, Morning**

“You know, ever since the Fates Bound you two together, I prayed to the Pantheon that you’d start rubbing off on each other, adopt the better traits of your partner as your own,” Professor Finneran said as she looked at Akko and Diana, both sitting across her desk with their heads bowed. “In hindsight, I suppose I should have realized such a wish could backfire _catastrophically_.

“Such reckless behaviour and lack of control, _disastrous_ beginner’s mistakes, screw-ups you’d expect from _children_ , I’ve come to expect from Ms. Kagari, however reluctantly. But you, Ms. Cavendish?” Finneran sighed, put her hand to her face, and shook her head. “I find I have no words…”

“I won’t press you two for a full report of whatever it is happened in that Forest, as is tradition, but I _do_ ask that you spend your time in detention reflecting and discussing of when the events there led you astray.

“And just so you know, if the chamber dampens your ability to communicate through your Bond, the surveillance equipment won’t be recording audio, and you’ll have a screen so they can’t read your lips. Any other questions before you start your detention?”

“No, Professor Finneran,” Akko and Diana both said, before Finneran dismissed them, and the guards escorted them both to the Sorcerer’s Square, then to an MDRC.

A **M** agic **D** ampening and **R** estraining **C** hamber—infamously and informally known as a “Blue Room”--was a common facility for handling out-of-control elemental weavers, dragons, and Fae folk. If you were a non-magical being, or one whose Gift hadn’t been discovered or awakened yet, it seemed to be just a large, spherical chamber whose inside happened to be covered in mysterious blue panels, and wouldn’t be that much different from any other isolation chamber.

To magical beings, however, it was a _special_ kind of hell, one Diana had only read about or heard of secondhand until now.

She was already feeling uneasy the moment the entrance to the chamber was opened, and by the time it shut and sealed behind her, it had evolved to an all-encompassing feeling of _wrongness_. How to describe the feeling, without her magic humming and coursing through her veins like a second set of blood, to see her and Akko’s Bond tattoos and eyes grow dull and lifeless, to be completely incapable of using any of her spells, or even will her magic to her fingers to summon a little puff of frost, or wet her fingertips...?

“This fucking _sucks!”_ Diana cried, finding even her voice sapped of its life and vigour.

“Eh…” Akko shrugged, “you get used to it...” she mumbled as she shuffled behind the silk screen, and onto one of the comfortable chairs provided for them.

“Mithros, they were _legally allowed_ to put you in here so many times before?” Diana said as she followed suit, taking the chair across her. “That’s just… just… _just..._ ”

Rage bubbled up inside her, the MDRC’s magitech just casually pushed it right back down. Diana struggled for a few more moments, hands shaking as she balled her fists, before she sighed, and slumped forward, her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands.

“I’m sorry, this is all my fault, isn’t it...?” she moped.

“Well, no, not really,” Akko replied, “it was me and Amanda that broke that power cell and caused that explosion.”

“But it probably wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t wake you up last night, kept us both awake, and cause us to sleep through our alarms, all because I wanted you to watch me jerk off so I could sleep!”

“To be fair, it _was_ pretty awesome.”

“But was it worth ending up here…?” Diana asked, her eyes watering.

Akko shrugged. “I don’t know. Do you need a hug?”

“Yes,” Diana sniffed. “Can you come over here for me? I can’t seem to muster the will to get up...”

“Let me try,” Akko said. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she managed to get up off her chair and hug Diana.

Her grip was weak, her body lacked much of its usual heat and warmth, and it didn’t completely stave off the awfulness of the blue room… but Diana buried her face in Akko’s shoulder and felt comforted all the same.

“Thanks...” Diana murmured, her lips tugging up into a smile, before the blue room nudged them back down.

“You’re welcome...” Akko replied. “Just so you know, I’m probably going to start sinking soon, and you’ll have to talk to me looking between your legs.”

“I can manage,” Diana said, before her face turned serious. “We need a plan to tame my libido, while it’s restrained for the moment. A _better_ plan, with more specifics, and contingencies! Giving ourselves plenty of free time, getting supplies from the dispensary, and not flirting with each other in public just isn’t going to cut it.”

“What do you have in mind?” Akko asked as she started to slip down past Diana’s shoulders.

“No sex on school nights. Cut off times for initiating intimate acts. Planned days of the month where we can go on dates, and maybe fuck each other’s brains out without consequence, if it comes to that.”

“I’m _really_ game for that last one,” Akko said, her voice muffled as her face was in Diana’s chest. Without their magic and their emotions dampened, neither really got anything from it.

“More supplies—potions, those old-fashioned chastity belts, or maybe just even sex toys that we can guarantee can get us off if the other happens to be unavailable. Going to have to start searching for meditation techniques, try to calm down my libido, or just learn to let my sexual desire come and go like the tide. Damn, I wish they gave us some pen and paper, or our comm-crystals worked in here, I need to write this all down...”

“I’m sure you’ll remember it all anyway!” Akko said as she looked up at Diana from her stomach. “You’re _super_ smart and great like that.”

Diana managed another small smile. “Thank you, Akko, but still, better to rely on objective materials than subjective memory. Regardless of whether or not we enact any or all of these measures, however, I swear I will tame this unquenchable thirst of mine, before it becomes our ruination.

“I love you, and also love having sex with you, but I don’t want our new relationship to be the end of every other good thing about us!”

“Aww, Diana, that’s _so_ sweet...” Akko said as her head sank down between Diana’s legs, her chin on the cushion, and the rest of her slumped on the floor. “I’ll be with you on this every step of the way!”

“Thank you, Akko.”

“And in case we fail, I’ll be _totally_ cool with more punishments like this! I get in trouble all the time, anyway, I _really_ won’t mind some of them being because we--” she made a rather lifeless seductive dragon sound “--when we probably shouldn’t have.”

“… Please don’t encourage my bad behaviour, Akko.”

“Okay, I won’t.”

They spent the rest of their detention in silence, slumped, listless, and sighing from time to time. They were only in there for an hour and a half, but as it usually did, it seemed like their punishment dragged on for much, _much_ longer.

When their time was finally up and the doors opened, they would have shouted and whooped for joy if they could, but as it was, they just stepped out into sunlight, fresh air, and raw magic.

Diana sighed happily as her Bond tattoos and her eyes regained their usual glow and luster, power rapidly surged and flowed through her veins once more, and the last of the Blue Room’s hold flew off of her.

She was _free_ _._

Beside her, Akko cheered as she stretched her wings and tail out, releasing a celebratory puff of flame into the air. “Aahhh, being in blue rooms suck _so much_ , but getting out of them feels _so good!”_ She folded her wings, and turned to Diana. “So, what’re we going to do now?”

Diana opened her comm-crystal. “Well, it’s _far_ too late to get to our current class, and we’re excused from flight training for the moment… it seems like we’ve got about two hours free until lunch.” She smiled at Akko. _“You thinking what I’m thinking?”_ she thought mentally, a mischievous look in her eyes.

“ _Uh, actually, I was thinking we could go back to our room and start writing down all those plans you mentioned, but sure, we could go have some ‘Just got out of detention’ fooling around! You’ve got study hall by yourself after lunch anyway, and you can just work on our plans better without me around as a distraction.”_

Diana paused. _“… Huh. Thank you, Akko, for indulging me, offering that great suggestion,_ _and pointing out that matter I hadn’t thought of_ _.”_

Akko smiled. _“You’re welcome. By the way, I learned from Amanda that no one really ever uses the bathrooms way on the_ _east_ _side of the_ _S_ _quare, unless they’re_ _smoking, jerking off, or getting_ _steamy_ _.”_

Diana blushed. _“Good to know.”_

The two of them marched through the Sorcerer’s Square, passing by students practicing their spells, field testing their various contraptions, and the numerous magical merchants and diversions there. They reached the bathrooms Akko had mentioned, found them completely empty, upon which Diana pulled Akko into the nearest available stall, locked the door behind them, and pinned her against the wall before she pressed her lips right over hers.

Diana moaned as she felt Akko’s dragon fire surging back into her system, before she stopped, pulled away with her eyes wide in worry. _“Shit, forgot—someone could catch us like this,”_ she thought.

“ _Gotta be quiet about this, yeah,”_ Akko added.

Diana nodded gravely, then frowned. _“… Why am I getting so_ _turned on_ _right now…?”_

“ _Thrill of getting caught! It’s_ _a_ _pretty common_ _kink_ _, from what I’ve heard,”_ Akko said. _“_ Really _sucks if you actually_ _do_ _get caught, though,_ _believe me.”_

Diana smiled. _“So I guess we’re going to have_ _be really discrete about this.”_

Akko smiled back. _“_ _Mhmm~ and I’ve already got an idea on how we’re going to do each other...”_

After some very careful maneuvering and listening in for anyone that might have discretely slipped in after them, Akko propped herself against the wall, Diana leaned back into her with her legs spread and her hands on Akko’s waist for support. Her cheeks burned red as Akko gently wrapped a claw over her mouth, the other reaching up her skirt and into her panties.

“Ready?” Akko whispered into her ear as she tugged down Diana’s panties, down between her thighs.

“Mhmm...” Diana whimpered, her voice muffled, her pussy already glistening.

Very, _very_ carefully and gently, Akko laid her nails atop Diana’s pussy, just a feather-light touch that sent a tiny lick of dragon-fire into her, like a matchstick…

“ _Mmmrrpfff~!”_

… And just like every other time, Diana’s body reacted like a gas stove, hot arousal starting to drip onto Akko’s claw, down between Diana’s thighs, and on the tile below them. She bit her lip in embarrassment as she felt Akko’s hold over her mouth tighten, the nails on her pussy stop completely.

“ _Are you sure you still want to do this…?”_ Akko asked. _“The walls may be thick, but they aren’t soundproof.”_

“ _Yes,”_ Diana replied. _“Is there anything we can do that might help?”_

“ _Something that’d gag you better than my claws, for one—I might cut your face trying to keep you quiet, if you keep squirming and moaning like that! Not that I_ mind _the squirming and the moaning, just, you know: public bathroom.”_

Diana quietly hummed in agreement. She thought for a while about what could possibly silence her rather _enthusiastic_ sounds of pleasure…

Akko COULD try to form a scarf or a ribbon out of her magic, but when not being worn by the dragon that created them, the risk of it suddenly, literally disappearing in a puff of smoke and embers was very real, and _very_ risky.

Diana had a handkerchief on her, but she had used that same item during Alchemy class earlier, and there might have been some leftover Choking Horror residue that would ruin the mood as soon as she took a particularly deep breath.

There was the prospect of ripping off the downy insides of her clothes, but Rider uniforms were a good deal more expensive and specialized than common clothes, and the school’s tailors and seamstresses often had innocent, important inquiries about how they got damaged in the first place…

… Then an idea hit her.

“ _Akko, let me go, please.”_

Akko obeyed, Diana carefully stepped forward, and put a hand on the stall wall as she slipped her panties off her legs and past her shoes, then balled it up in her hand.

Akko’s eyes widened. _“Holy shit, are you going to…?”_

Blushing, hands shaking, sweat beginning to drip down her forehead as her heart began to race, Diana did.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for the recent spate of comments! They really helped, and I appreciated the feedback. Hope you guys continue to enjoy where this big flaming pile of sin is going now.

**Monday, Late Morning**

Of all the things Diana was not expecting to do this day, it was stuff her own arousal-soaked panties into her mouth as a gag, so as to keep from making too much noise and potentially alerting others to the fact that she and Akko were having sex in a public bathroom.

 _But_ then again, ever since they were Bound together at that year’s Unity Gala, every single day tended to be _full_ of surprises, unexpected twists and turns, and moments of self-discovery neither of them would have experienced had their paths never crossed.

Moments like discovering that Diana _was_ very turned on by the knowledge that she had stuffed her own underwear into her mouth as a gag, that she could smell her own arousal with every breath, that Akko was staring at her, her jaw hanging open as she tried to wrap her head around the _incredibly_ lewd sight in front of her.

“ _Holy shit, you actually did it,”_ Akko said mentally, her mouth currently only capable of hanging slack and drooling.

Diana looked away in embarrassment—could she still rightfully say she felt it, when she had been so shameless, though? She ignored the conundrum, and asked, “ _Could you… could you test if this’ll work…?”_

Akko reattached her bottom jaw and nodded.

Cheeks burned red as Diana leaned into Akko’s chest and clutched handfuls of her vest, while Akko reached behind Diana, held her skirt up with one claw, and carefully put the other back to her pussy, magical heat radiating from her nails and onto the glistening lips.

“Mnnfff...~” Diana moaned, her voice muffled. She started to make all manner of muted noises of delight as Akko rubbed and toyed with her pussy, let out a faint cry as she put them on her clit, dragon-fire surging in and fresh arousal dripping onto the sensitive skin as Akko teasingly circled her nails around it.

“ _W-Well…_ _?”_ Diana asked, her knuckles white, her panties rapidly getting soaked in her drool, her inner thighs slick and shiny with rivulets of arousal dripping down them.

Akko smiled. _“_ _Unless we’ve got another dragon or a Fae with_ really _good hearing_ _in the stall next to us_ _or_ _right_ _outside the door… I’m pretty sure we’re good.”_ Her face softened as she pulled her claw off, and rested it on her hip _. “And speaking of which:_ _y_ _ou okay, Diana?”_

Diana nodded. _“I am.”_

“Sure _you still want to do this?”_

“ _Yes.”_

“ _How are you feeling?”_

“ _Like a desperate, sex-addicted whore getting her fix with some stranger in a public bathroom.”_

“… _Is that a_ good _, or a_ bad _thing…?”_

“ _I honestly don’t know, but I_ do _know it’s really fucking turning me on, and that’s all I care about for the moment.”_

“ _So you still game for your first time getting claw-fucked in a bathroom?”_

“ _ **Yes.”**_

Akko smiled as she put her claw back on Diana’s pussy, started getting her nails as soaked and slick with Diana’s arousal as possible. _“_ _Wow_ _, this is_ really _turning you on, isn’t it?”_ she asked as lewd, wet sounds started to filling the air.

“Mhmm-hmmff...” Diana whimpered, heated, shallow breaths pouring out from around her gag. _“Mithros, this is so wrong… we could get in_ so _much trouble if we get caught...”_ she thought as she began to quiver and shake

“ _Do you want to stop?”_

Diana’s eyes suddenly narrowed to slits. _**“No,**_ _and don’t you_ _ **dare s**_ _top—not unless we’ve got a damn good reason to!”_

Akko blinked, before she grinned. _“_ _Got it_ _~!”_

Things heated up quickly after that, as Akko slipped her nails into Diana and started pumping them in and out of her drooling pussy, Diana leaking and squirming as she the fire inside her was stoked and fed, quickly growing to a full-blown inferno. Her muffled moans and whimpers; the wet sounds of her getting claw-fucked; the drip-drip of her arousal raining on the floor, all grew louder and louder…

… But not quite as loud as the bathroom’s door quickly opening and shutting behind someone who just stepped in.

Akko’s ears twitched, her claw stopped where it was midway inside Diana’s pussy, her mind reflexivey sent a wordless, frantic warning. Diana’s eyes widened, an icy chill running down her spine, the dragon-fire inside her flickering and weakening, if only for a moment.

They prayed whoever it was would leave, or at least be quick about their visit—maybe a few quick puffs of some illicit drug before it was hastily put out and conserved for later, a drop-off of a package meant for discrete, covert delivery, or even them using the facilities for their intended purpose...

… So of course whoever it was took the stall right next to them, and from the sounds of quiet shuffling about, a bag’s zipper being undone, and the steady turning of a physical book’s pages, they _clearly_ intended to stay for a while.

“ _Ffffuuuuuccccckkkk...”_ Diana thought, her pained whimpers thankfully still muffled.

Akko frowned, carefully pulling her nails out of Diana’s pussy, holding her other claw underneath to catch the worst of her leaking. _“Do you want to try and run for it?”_

“ _I don’t think I can even_ walk _like this, Akko...”_ Diana replied. _“Do you think you can reabsorb your dragon_ _-_ _fire from me?”_

“ _Not unless you want to spend the next couple of hours here,_ _or you_ _use your magic to help!”_ Akko replied. _“_ _My fire just_ _keeps going till it’s all burn_ _t_ _out,_ _or something even_ stronger _puts it out_ _.”_

Diana’s eyes watered. _“Then are we just stuck like this...?”_

Akko frowned, about to nod, before she suddenly got a spark in her eyes and her lips curled into a smile—the look that foretold the beginning of her latest misadventure, another “brilliant” idea, or the moment where it was officially too late to change her mind about something.

Akko gently grabbed Diana’s hands and pulled them off her vest, before she began to lower herself down to the floor.

Diana blinked, her tears stopping as she watched Akko. _“Akko, what are you doing?”_

“ _Helping you,”_ Akko said as she grabbed Diana’s hips, brought her face right between her legs. _“Do whatever you need to do to cum as quickly and quietly as possible, okay?”_ she said, before she pressed her tongue right on the base of Diana’s drooling pussy lips.

Diana stiffened and cried out, the sound just barely muffled by her panties. She planted her palms on the wall and started taking deep, quiet breaths as Akko ate her out, slowly, carefully running her tongue up the length of her pussy, giving her clit a little lick and a powerful spark of dragon-fire, before she did it all over again.

It was good— _damn_ good—but not the intense ramp up of pleasure and heat that’d bring her to an orgasm; as it was, it was just stoking the fire in Diana’s belly, prolonging her torture.

“ _Think of something sexy?”_ Akko offered.

Diana tried.

She tried to think of Akko, the effort she was putting in to help her, the risk she was willing to put herself in just to satisfy her new impulses, the arousal, affection, and encouragement pouring in from her side of the Bond…

… But while that made her love Akko all the more, it didn’t get her any closer to an orgasm.

She tried to think of where they were, hiding out in a bathroom stall in a forgotten corner of the Sorceror’s Square, the _scandal_ and the _lewdness_ of it all, the refined and proper Diana Cavendish doing something so _dirty_ …

… Before she remembered their unexpected intruder, barging in none the wiser to her and Akko’s tryst, and ruining _everything_.

… Or were they really so ignorant...?

Did they see her and Akko slipping into the bathroom, knew they couldn’t have just been using it for its intended purpose, what with all the much more convenient restrooms nearby, and this particular one’s illicit reputation?

Did they deliberately wait outside, maybe intentionally waiting for Akko and Diana to think they were safe so they could catch them right in the middle of the act, maybe debating investigating or leaving until their curiosity got the better of them?

Was their entering _really_ just an unlucky coincidence for them, as was it something much more intentional…?

Akko stopped eating her out, tried to reassure her no one probably saw them ducking into the bathroom, and would likely assume something innocent, before she realized Diana was getting turned on.

Really, _really_ turned on.

Diana whimpered and shook, the flames inside her growing _painful_ without Akko stoking and feeding them. _“Akko, why’d you stop…?”_

“ _Do you think they can hear us next door…?”_ Akko replied as she resumed her licking, sending an extra powerful burst of dragon-fire into Diana’s clit that time.

“Hrmpff…?!” Diana cried out as her eyes widened in horror, that icy chill ran down her spine again… though with a very different reaction this time.

“ _They probably can,”_ Akko continued as she put her tongue back on the base of Diana’s pussy. _“Probably have their ears pressed right up to the_ _wall_ _, trying to hear every little noise you make,_ _keeping_ _quiet while_ _get_ _off to you...”_

Diana whimpered, making little muffled noises of distress, of fear, of _excitement_.

“ _I wonder: how quickly would they cum if they could see you like this?”_ Akko mused as she wrapped her lips around Diana’s clit, sucking on it, toying with it using her tongue, lavishing it with hot spit and even hotter dragon-fire. _“All helpless, horny, and desperate…_ _getting_ so _fucking turned on by the thought that someone’s getting off to you, listening to you moan and squirm, waiting to hear you_ cum…!”

And just like that, Diana did.

She cried as her world exploded into white once more, her knees shaking as her arousal gushed and poured all over Akko’s mouth, her cheeks, her chin, dribbling and spilling on the front of her vest, soaking the enchanted fabric through.

Diana gasped as her orgasm began to fade, a trail of pale frost forming on the wall as her knees buckled, and she she slowly collapsed to the floor and into Akko. _“Fuck._ _ **Me.**_ _Akko, where did you learn to talk dirty like that…?!”_ she asked as Akko carefully pulled her panties out of her mouth, then wrapped her arms around her.

She smiled sheepishly. _“_ _Heh, t_ _urns out a lot of the skills you learn from acting workshops and show business summer programs can come in pretty handy where you’re getting steamy!_ _Setting the right mood is a pretty big part of a great act, after all..._ _”_

Diana chuckled softly. _“Of course...”_

They spent the next ten minutes in there, Akko absorbing the leftover embers of her fire, waiting for Diana’s strength to come back before they started erasing the evidence.

Akko disintegrated her soaked clothes, vapours rising up in the air instead of the usual cloud of embers; torched them with her breath, and manifested a new uniform as the scent sprayers detected the smoke and activated. Diana used her magic to siphon off her arousal from her own clothes till they were mostly dry, sent it and the puddles on the floor down the drain, before she used the grooming kit she always had on her to clean themselves up a bit, made it look a _lot_ less like they had just had hot, kinky sex in a bathroom.

After Diana did all that she could, Akko closed her eyes and listened in, either for their unexpected guest or anyone new that had slipped in; when all seemed quiet enough, they slipped out of the bathroom and back to the Square, looking and acting as casual and inconspicuous as they could.

“ _That was a_ _ **terrible**_ _idea...”_ Diana thought as they passed by a group of students, trying not to avoid eye contact as they greeted her, make her post-coital limping less obvious.

“ _Yeeep...”_ Akko replied, a little-too-giddy smile on her face.

“… _**Incredibly** fun and worth it, but **still** terrible.”_

“ _You want to maybe try this again after a couple of weeks,_ _or_ _next_ _month,_ _maybe?”_ Akko asked.

The corner’s of Diana’s lips tugged up a little higher. _“_ _Yes._ _”_

Their conversation stopped dead as a rogue breeze from an air weaver blew past them. Akko was unaffected, until she noticed Diana suddenly blushing and desperately trying to keep her skirt from blowing upwards.

“ _Fuck.”_

Diana and Akko were about to make a hasty, hopefully inconspicuous dash back to the bathroom, when they noticed a green pixie frantically floating towards them, fighting against the last of the rogue gust. It carried a bundle wrapped in enchanted, leaf-like cloth, and hovered around them both until Akko held out her claw, and it floated down into it.

The pixie and the enchanted cloth faded away like leaves blowing away in the wind, revealing Diana’s panties, still soaked, but neatly and carefully folded, the minuscule indents on it indicative of more pixies having done the job.

Akko quickly passed it to Diana, who stuffed it into her pocket. _“Was that just one of Lot--?!”_

“ _Best not to think about it, Akko!_ _”_ Diana interrupted. _“_ _We’re lucky enough as is.”_

Akko nodded.

They made haste to the nearest deserted corner, Akko casually stood around and blocked anyone’s view of Diana as she quickly slipped her panties back on, then off they went, to a nearby launching pad, up to the skies, and to their room.

* * *

**Monday, Late Morning**

“Oh, _Mithros,_ that was _way_ too close...” Diana muttered as she lounged in their hot spring/bathroom again, submerged from the waist down with the box of Lady’s Lifesaver nearby.

“Mhmm...” Akko said as she laid beside her in dragon form, still wearing her saddle. “Looks like our luck’s starting to turn back the other way again.”

Diana frowned. “Indeed… we have to start that planning and contingencies for my libido. _Now_. Before something _truly_ awful happens, and things get even more out of control than they already are.”

“I’m all ears,” Akko said, resting her head right next to Diana.

They spent the time leading up to noon planning how to deal with their new problem, putting Diana’s earlier ideas into writing and exploring them in more detail, points and subject matter they would want to research on, and a brief foray into things they’d want to try, now that they had all those supplies from the dispensary.

“Would you be amenable to, you know, trying to see if, ah, any dragon-sized part of you will fit…?” Diana asked, blushing bright red. “I’m just _curious_ , is all! This can be a one-time thing, or not at all, if you’re not comfortable with it.”

“Well, without alchemy, we’re _definitely_ looking at months to years of constant size training, and a _whole_ lot more yoga and flexibility exercises in your schedule! With alchemy, though, we can definitely do whatever the hell it is you like, with whatever part of me you want, whenever you like.”

Diana’s eyes widened. “Is the, ah, ‘Fuck Physics’ brand really that effective…?”

Akko smirked. “You ever wanted to see a teeny, tiny girl who’s about a hundred pounds soaking wet take a nail longer than she is tall, live, and still be able to walk and rave about how great it was after she cums?”

Diana’s mouth fell open. “… I… I… I _do_ , actually... but I’m not entirely sure if I _should…”_

Akko chuckled. “Don’t worry, Diana: it’s _always_ like that when you’re just discovering your fetishes for the first time.”

The conversation stopped as Akko’s stomach rumbled—with all the volatile gases and enchanted fire stewing in there, it was _not_ a sound to be ignored. “Oh, geeze, looks like its time for lunch...” she muttered as she got up. “You good enough to ride again, or do you just want me to bring something back for you?”

“Go on without me, Akko, and no thank you, I’ll just see what we have here,” Diana said, waving her off. “I think it might be good for us to keep away for the rest of the day until the second half of our detention, lessen the risk of temptation.”

Akko nodded. “Just call me if you need me,” she said as she leaned her head right before Diana.

Diana stood up, and planted a kiss on the tip of Akko’s nose. “I will,” she said.

Akko lumbered out of their bathroom, off their balcony, and to the mess hall, her slow, clumsy flaps booming and echoing in the vast walls of their room. Diana hoped she wouldn’t land _too_ badly, since she wasn’t there to compensate for her lack of flying skills.

“ _Maybe I should have went with her anyway...”_ she thought, before she frowned. _“_ _…_ _Or maybe I’m just making up excuses and sabotaging my own plans.”_ She sighed and leaned back into the smooth stones that lined the spring. _“Honestly, Diana, it’s like you haven’t been spending the past 10 years more or less on your own; you’ve lived without Akko in your life before, you can do it all over again!”_

Did she _want_ to, though...?

She scowled and quashed the thought. “This isn’t a question of if you _want_ to, it’s that you _need_ to,” she grumbled as she pulled out her comm-crystal, started doing as she always did whenever she faced a problem:

Research.

There was an _incredibly_ large amount of information out there about her situation specifically—fire aligned dragons, weavers, and fae folk _awakening_ things in their Bonded partner, long thought dormant, non-existent, or not nearly as active before was nothing new, it seemed.

Information and theories on the phenomenon and its other effects were bountiful, the reputable and well-reviewed research papers were aplenty, and advice on how to get a handle on it or mitigate its effects abounded abounded… but even more numerous than it were the written and recorded accounts of the individuals in the relationships, media that was specifically inspired or based entirely off the phenomenon of “Burning Desire,” and guides and pointers that weren’t so much about taming it, as finding all manner of ways to “fan the flames.”

Diana found her hand straying to the latter articles, sites, and sources, before she grabbed her wrist, forced herself to toss them out of her search results, and let the Fountainhead’s sorting and suggestion algorithms do the rest.

She sighed as much less… scandalous and irresponsible options populated the projection in front of her.

“Self-control, Diana, self-control,” she said to herself as she started sifting through her choices, setting a priority order for her reading list. “This is all for your and Akko’s benefit. The sooner you get a handle on this _insatiable_ desire of yours, the less headaches and complications you’ll risk, and the more you’ll enjoy the time you can and do indulge it with her…”

She paused.

“… _I wonder what Akko’s doing right now…?”_ she thought.


	5. Chapter 5

**Monday, Noon**

“ _ **INCOMING!”**_

Humans, dragons, and Fae folk down on the ground screamed and ran for cover as a giant, ruby red comet streaked through the sky, getting larger and faster with each passing second. Up in the control towers, all was calm as usual as the staff there noted the familiar blip on their radar, started redirecting traffic, and calling in the necessary crews.

“Kagari, coming in hot,” one of them said coolly.

Carts full of cargo, large equipment, and the occasional animal were rapidly being hauled off to the sides, or at least, away from Akko’s trajectory; for her part, she tried to steer away from them, but without Diana’s steady hands on her reigns, all she really could manage were big, clumsy sweeps and turns.

Souls just freed from the paralyzing terror that gripped them now now prayed to whomever of the Pantheon they patronized, or hit the tarmac and curled into balls, hot air from Akko’s wake rushing past them and nearly blowing them away. Emergency shields were put up over devices too large to move easily or unable to be packed easily, Akko clipped and bounced off one and was sent spinning.

Akko screamed as she closed her wings and hit the ground with her claws, leaving deep, jagged patches of gouges in her trail as she skidded, slid, and spun to one the dragon-sized, flier-friendly entrances of the mess hall. She clipped one side of the doors and slowed down a good deal, but kept on spiraling down the main track out of control, land-bound dragons, her fellow fliers, and their Riders showing off impressive acrobatics and reflexes as they dodged, went up the walls, or launched themselves right over her.

She was about to reach the kitchen-serving pit in the center of the hall. The beings on Akko’s side abandoned their place in line and fled, the aquatic dragons and beings in the canals on the other side followed suit, in case she hit the guard rail and her momentum threw her over the pit and into the water again.

Fortunately for everyone, she managed to stop just before it. Her head and front tilted and teetered dangerously close to falling right over the railing and onto all the food, chefs, and servers inside, but Akko quickly shifted her weight backward.

Whumph!

She sat down on her butt, and came to a complete stop.

The servers and chefs in the pit sighed in relief, and went back to work.

In the control towers, the staff started calculating the damage and necessary work, a few making notes to visit a shrine of their patron deities after their shift as they could have been worse. “Kagari has landed. I repeat. Kagari has landed,” the same one from earlier said, before they and the others went back to business as usual.

Inside the mess hall, everyone relaxed, conversations resumed, meals were returned to, and bets started getting collected. At the pit, one of the servers started dumping several dozen pounds worth of roast chicken into a giant tub made of fire-proof wood.

“Cavendish hitting the books than getting grub again?” he asked as he raised it up for Akko with the help of a machine.

“Yeah, she is,” Akko lied, before she thanked him, gripped the bucket in her teeth, and went off in search of a free space.

She found Sucy and Lotte already having lunch at their usual corner, both of them in their dragon forms with their own tubs of food in front of them. Akko set hers before them, and smiled. “Hey girls!” she said.

“Hey Akko,” they replied, Lotte smiling and waving her tail at Akko, her sprites doing the same with their tiny little limbs before they continued munching on vegetables and herbs, while Sucy raised one of her two heads from her giant pile of probably poisonous mushrooms and exotic plants.

The “eyebrows” on that head rose as she noticed Akko’s saddle. “Huh,” Sucy said, “not having lunch with Diana? That’s new.”

“Ah, yeah, she’s staying back at our room, getting back to studying and schoolwork! You know how she is,” Akko said as she reached down and took several whole chickens into her mouth, humming as the juices spilled on her tongue and the bones cracked between her teeth.

Sucy smiled. “You sure it’s not because you’re in trouble with you girlfriend again?” she teased.

Akko started choking, shredded chicken parts, grease, and steam flying out of her mouth. That wasn’t new, but the way her other head caught Lotte and her spirits stiffening and panicking out of the corner of her eye certainly was.

“W-What?!” Akko cried. “No, no I’m not! In trouble, or girlfriends with Diana! We’re still just partners! The platonic, non-romantic kind that just happened to be Bound together, not the kind that kiss and--” she rapidly shut her mouth, bursts of steam escaping her nostrils.

“Maybe it’s because they just want to start spending time away from each other?” Lotte offered as she recovered. “They did spend just six weeks alone together in the Forest.”

Sucy was unconvinced, but nodded her speaking head, the one in the mushrooms eyeing them suspiciously. “Right...”

Akko cleared her throat, and let out a painfully awkward chuckle. “Geez, Sucy, do you _always_ have to be teasing me and Diana about being a couple when we’re not?”

“Yes, because it’s fun.”

Akko sighed. “Just know that me and Diana _definitely_ aren’t girlfriends, alright? And can we please change the subject?”

“I second that,” Lotte said, before she reached down and took another mouthful of greens.

“Fine,” Sucy said. “So, how is the Forest? Still standing? Or is it now a giant barren, wasteland of broken trees and burnt-out husks?”

“It’s still standing and not destroyed!” Akko replied as she reached down back to her chicken. “And for your information, I didn’t break or burn down _that_ many trees!”

“You sure about that?” Sucy asked. “Whenever anyone puts you and Diana together for any length of time, it’s like combining several pounds of potassium and liters of water—guaranteed to be one hell of an explosive reaction.”

“I’m sure,” Akko replied, glaring mildly at Sucy. “We had this really big problem in the beginning, but we smoothed it out and everything was great after that!” she said before she took a giant bite out of her tub of chicken.

“That’s good to hear!” Lotte said.

“Uh huh. And what was that ‘really big problem’…?”

Akko’s slowly raised her head from her tub, chewing slowly. She swallowed, and asked Sucy, “Do you _really_ need to know…?”

“Yeah, considering I’ve got a massive personal stake in finding out what happened,” Sucy said. “I suppose Amanda’s already told you about the bet?”

Akko steamed up again.

Sucy raised her heads, both of their mouths splitting into grins. “Does this mean I can collect my winnings now?”

“ _No,_ because me and Diana haven’t—you know!”

Lotte frowned. “Sucy, is this bet _really_ worth ruining your friendship with Akko…?” she asked.

“It is, because I’m going to get 10,000 Piorina’s from Amanda’s call alone,” Sucy replied.

Akko and Lotte’s jaws dropped, the latter’s sprites stopped, stunned.

“So? Did I win? Because I’ve got big plans for that kind of money, Akko, _big_ plans...” Sucy said, chuckling.

Lotte put her jaw back in. “O-Okay, that’s a LOT of money, but still...”

Akko frowned, hesitated a moment, before she stepped forward and placed a claw on the ground, her Bond tattoos glowing. Lotte and Sucy looked at each other, before the former put her own claw above Akko’s, and the latter wrapped her tail around their ankles, both their Freelancer’s marks glowing as they opened their minds to each other.

“ _You girls_ really _want to know what happened between me and Diana in the Forest?”_ Akko asked.

“ _Uh, duh?”_ Sucy replied.

Hesitation came pouring in from Lotte’s end, before it stopped, and she quietly said, _“… Yes, yes I do._ ”

Akko took a deep breath, and started. _“What happened between me and Diana in the Forest is that we talked a LOT_ _about a huge problem Diana hadn’t expected_ _...”_

* * *

**Several weeks ago, back in the Forest…**

Diana and Akko were sitting at the mouth of a cave, hiding from the storm outside. Akko was in dragon form, Diana curled up beside her stomach with one of Akko’s wings protectively folded over her for warmth.

It was quiet, but for the howling winds, the pouring rain, and the steady thrum of Akko’s stomachand the fire inside it.

“… _I’m sorry,”_ Diana said.

Akko blinked, craned her neck to look at her. _“Sorry for what?”_

“ _All the thoughts, distress, and panicking I’ve unwittingly subjected you to ever since we got here. I’m usually so good at keeping my emotions and troublesome thoughts at bay, but I’m beginning to realize that the constant work I threw myself at probably contributed more to that, than any sort of self-control and emotional maturity on my part…_

“ _Atsu—Akko, I really am_ very _truly sorry for all the unpleasantness and stress I’ve caused you, even if it might seem to you like I’m only really out to try and force you to reach my level of standards, regardless of whether or not you can actually get there._

“ _Your opinion of me may be forever damaged, and perhaps irreparable, even, but I hope that we can still continue to work together, as the Fates seemed to hope we would.”_

Silence again, but for the storm outside, growing stronger for a moment as lightning flashed and thunder boomed.

“… _I actually don’t mind, you know._ _Hearing about all your problems._ _”_ Akko replied.

Diana’s eyebrows rose.

“ _Well, actually, I kinda do, but… how do I put this…? I always thought you were Little Miss Perfect, you know? Always got your shit together, excels at absolutely everything, does incredible things with any dragon or company she partners up with, all that’s left is for her to find the Perfect Dragon Partner the Fates have been saving up for her._

“ _I actually wondered if our getting Bound together was some sort of huge cosmic screw-up._

“ _Like someone was at their desk pairing people up, and whoops! Blacked out for a couple of seconds, now they’ve gotta call their supervisor! Or maybe someone’s playing a really, really, **really** cruel joke, and any day now, we’re going to wake up and find that our Bond tattoos are gone, and we can’t hear each other’s heads anymore._

“ _But now that I know you’re not Little Miss Perfect, and you’ve_ definitely _got your own issues—even if they’re not as bad as_ my _issues… it makes me feel better._

“ _Is that wrong…?”_

Diana paused, and shook her head. _“No. No it’s not. I’d say it’s more dangerous to ever think that someone can’t ever do wrong,_ _has no flaws_ _. Even_ _the Pantheon can be all too mortal_ _, after all.”_

“ _Oh. Okay. Good.”_

The storm continued to rage on outside, Akko and Diana silently watched and listened for a while.

“… _I suppose this is why Bonds get so tested, and Freelancer Companies break apart during their stays in the Forest,”_ Diana mused. _“No Fountainhead, no other beings but yourselves, no creature comforts nor serious distractions, just work and training all day, before you’re suddenly alone with your thoughts and your issues, no escape unless someone happens to get injured or sick enough for an emergency evac.”_

Akko hummed. _“I think we’re going to make it_ _out okay_ _, though.”_

Diana raised her eyebrows again. _“And what makes you so sure of that?”_

Akko smiled. _“Because were_ _Bound together_ _. And_ _maybe I’m wrong about us being some sort of cosmic joke_ _or_ _clerical error_ _, and we really_ were _meant to be together… I’ve been wrong about_ lots _of things before, right?”_

Diana chuckled. _“Generally for questions on quizzes, homework, and the dates for both…_ _but_ _yes, whose to say you can’t be wrong on this, too?”_

Akko grumbled. _“Watch it—I can always take my wing back, you know.”_

“ _My apologies, I’ll stop,”_ Diana said.

She and Akko watched the storm for a little while longer, before the two of them fell asleep to the sounds of the rain, slowly, gradually weakening as the storm neared its end.

* * *

**Back To Present Day…**

“… _And aside from the training, the exploring, the working, and trying to spend some time away from each other every once in a while, that’s pretty much all what we did: talk about our problems and work them out, like any Bound pair is supposed to in the Forest.”_

“ _Awww, how sweet!”_ Lotte said.

Sucy sighed. _“And there goes my hopes for some XZ-237 cultures...”_

“ _Better luck next time, Sucy,”_ Akko said, smiling as she let took her claw back, and the Link started to unravel.

Lotte took her own claw back, and Sucy coiled her tail back behind her once more. The rest of their lunch proceeded as it would any other day, before they went their separate ways, Akko trotting off to her next class (much to the relief of the construction crews still fixing the tarmac and the floors), and Lotte and Sucy flying off to theirs.

“Hey, Lotte?” Sucy asked as she curled herself up into a ball. “You don’t think that all Akko and Diana did in the Forest was talk about each other’s problems, right…?”

“Actually, I do, because I trust Akko, and if she was lying to us, then I’m sure she has a very good reason to,” Lotte replied as she spread her wings. “And if you want to keep chasing this bet money of yours, you can find some other way to get to class.”

Both of Sucy’s sets of eyes widened in surprise and interest, before she decided not to press the matter. As Lotte picked her up in her mouth and took off, however, she began to wonder if she could find someone else to help her investigate, see if she really had won that ten grand…

Meanwhile, Akko changed into her humanoid form, ducked inside the nearest bathroom and into a stall, sighing as she pressed her back against the door. _“Whew, that was_ way _too close…”_ she thought as she pulled out her comm-crystal from her saddle’s pockets. _“Good thing your fantastic acting skills saved the day, Akko!”_ she thought, smiling as she started sending a message to Diana.

“Hey, Diana, you busy?” it read, without the abbreviations and the emoticons.

“No, I’m on a ferry to the library. Is it anything important?”

“Yes. I think Sucy suspects we’re a thing now, and is _really_ keen on finding out for sure.”

“Sucy? Surely, you jest! What in the realm could she possibly have to gain from prying into our personal lives?”

“10,000 Piorinas, thanks to a bet she made with Amanda about whether or not we”--Akko wrote a seductive dragon sound--”back in the Forest.”

There was a long, noticeable delay in Diana’s reply. “10,000 PIORINAS?!” A short pause, before she was typing once more. “You know, what forget it: those two and whoever else participated in that nonsense can do what they like with their money. I assume she was rather persistent about her inquiries?”

“Yep, but don’t worry, I handled it just fine!”

Another pause.

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

“My apologies, Akko, but when it comes to secrecy, wit, and verbal finesse, you’re not exactly the name that comes to mind. Nevertheless, I sincerely appreciate the effort; I _really_ don’t want her nor anyone else to find out until I’m ready...”

Akko smiled. “I’ll throw her and anyone off the trail for as long as you need me to, Diana.”

Distant and faint as the sensation was, Akko smiled as she felt a little trickle of warmth and affection pour in from Diana’s side of the Bond.

“Thank you, Akko.”

_Beat._

“What’s your Flashchat ID again?”

Akko told her. “Why do you ask?”

“In a moment. Are you somewhere private, where no one can see your comm-crystal?”

Akko blinked, her heart beginning to beat a little faster. “Yes.”

There was no reply from Diana, until less than a minute later, a holo popped up in front of Akko, the unmistakable image of an up-skirt flash. Akko stared at it, her eyes widening and her jaw slowly falling open, until it automatically disappeared five seconds later.

“Is it gone…?”

“It’s gone, don’t worry. And trust me, I didn’t save it, and no one saw it.”

“Good. Would you please delete all the messages from earlier too?”

“Only if I get to see more of that later tonight.”

“Oh, you’re _definitely_ going to see much more than just that, believe me~”

Akko blinked, before she grinned. “Wow. Lewd.”

“Too much…?”

“No. Just surprised. In a good way. I _really_ like this new side of you, Diana.”

“As do I, Akko.” A pause. “Ferry’s landing, have to erase all the evidence. Love you.”

“Love you too,” Akko said, before she dutifully erased her message history, shut off her comm-crystal, and ran off to her next class. Way over on the landing pad of the library, Diana tipped her ferry griffin with a treat, before she headed inside to report for study hall.

Both were worried about the latest problem that had arisen from their new relationship, but for now, they had schoolwork to attend to.

* * *

**Monday, Late Afternoon**

Sucy and Amanda were in art class, both in their humanoid forms, the first ingesting chemicals before breathing or spitting it on their materials, the second using turning her metallic claws into various tools to cut, shape, and carve their sculpture.

“You seem pissed,” Sucy said after she softened the rock up top with her breath.

“I’ve got detention after this, why wouldn’t I be?” Amanda grumbled, lopping off too large a block.

She cursed, while Sucy caught it in one of her hands. “Don’t you _always_ have detention?” she asked, before she drank some adhesive, carefully spat some of catalyzed substance on the chunk and stuck it back on.

“It’s the _extra_ tough sort of detention, when you _really_ screw up and there’s no skipping it, not unless you want hell to pay,” Amanda grumbled as she did. “Accidentally blowing up expensive magitechnical stuff does that.”

“What happened between you and Akko, anyway? You two don’t usually fuck up this much.”

“Shit did,” Amanda replied. “Honestly, Suse, I get in trouble all the time, do you think I remember every single detail about them?” she asked as she put her blade claw to the rock once more.

“I’d think you would, if it happens to involve losing a 10,000 Piorina bet,” Sucy said, her voice low.

Amanda stiffened, the edge of her blade almost on the stone again. She slowly turned it back into a claw, discretely looked out for their professor, before she motioned for Sucy to grab her claw.

“ _What do you know?”_ Amanda asked as she established a link.

“ _Something’s_ definitely _up. Akko got more riled up than usual about the girlfriend jokes, and she’s definitely trying to avoid the topic as much as possible. She really was probably telling the truth when she said that she and Diana had heart-to-heart talks a lot back in the Forest, but I get the sense that there was a whole lot more than that.”_

Amanda sighed. _“Then I guess you and I are going to have to start working out an installment plan, because I don’t have that kind of money on me_ _right_ _...”_

“ _You may not have lost this bet, you know_.”

Amanda stopped, and looked at Sucy suspiciously. _“_ _And what makes you say that…?”_

“ _Just the facts: neither Diana nor Akko have outright said they’ve finally resolved all that sexual tension, but Akko is acting really suspiciously when the subject is brought up. Could be that they actually did do it and they’re trying to hide the truth… but it also could be that she and Diana just discussed it, but it didn’t end in hot Bonded rider-on-dragon action, and they really are still just friends.”_

Amanda frowned. _“And what are the odds of_ that _?”_

“ _I don’t know, but since when did poor odds stop you from_ _taking a risk_ _?”_ Sucy asked, her lips slowly spreading into a smile.

Amanda grumbled. _“Sucy, just so you know, I feel like I’m working extra hard to find out that I’ve lost ten grand. So what is it you need me to do…?_ ”

 _“Just show up by my dorm, and I’ll tell you the rest...”_ Sucy said.

The two of them returned to their sculpture, neither their classmates, their professor, nor Diana and Akko the wiser.


	6. Chapter 6

**Monday, Late Afternoon**

The Dustbowl.

As its name implied, it really was just a giant, dry basin full of useless dust and rock, neither magically charged enough for any significant forms of alchemy or elemental weaving, nor with any useful physical properties, aside from turning them to filling for dead-weights.

It was blazing hot and prone to dust storms, with little shade nor water sources to be found anywhere. It was isolated and challenged even the most powerful receivers from accessing the Fountainhead—and even then, just _barely._ _A_ nd there were many more, much more convenient, and much better equipped training grounds in Luna Nova, even if the ever increasing budget cuts were starting to seriously limit their uses.

Few ever came to this place, unless they really needed to, and so it was to Diana’s displeasure that she would have to be returning to it two more times this week, and who knows how many more visits in the near future.

Even her ferry hippogriff would rather have wished to be anywhere else than flying here, its beak curled into what Diana assumed to be a deep scowl.

She made sure to tip it generously with two treat bags, before she petted it and wished it a safe journey back to Luna Nova. It cawed amiably and nuzzled its feathery head against Diana, before it did so post haste, trotting downwind first so she wouldn’t be blasted by dust as it lifted off.

As it began its ascent back to Luna Nova, Diana put her hand over her eyes and scanned the horizon. She squinted against the harsh glare of the sun, noticed a large speck growing larger in the sky. She began to step to the side as Akko became larger and faster, the trails of smoke and fire in her wake now visible. Diana gathered up her magic as she listened to the whistling sound of rushing air and faint screaming, before she threw up a wall of water in front of her.

_BOOM._

Dust exploded from Akko’s point of impact, Diana calmly stood behind her barrier, watching the pristine ice-blue magic quickly turn into mud, feeling the rest of the blast harmlessly rush past her. The clouds settled, the barrier fell into the ground and evaporated, Akko coughed, hacked, and caused a few explosions with her breath, before she relaxed and stopped.

“Akko,” Diana said, smiling and nodding.

Akko carefully blew some of the clouds from her face, her inner pair of eyelids firmly shut. She stumbled out of the crater and moved about half-blind for a moment, before she found Diana, and smiled. “Hey Diana! Were you waiting long?” she asked as she lowered her head to her.

Diana stepped up and kissed her on her scaly nose. “No, I just got here, actually,” she said as she caressed a side of her muzzle.

The two of them stiffened and pulled away as they noticed a beam of light streaking from Nova and through the sky, arcing downwards and landing right before them. They tensed up and put on their most professional faces, before the new arrival’s features began to reform.

Ursula smiled. “Diana, Akko,” she said, flapping her wings and shaking her tail, little leftover sparks of her magic flying out and blinking out of existence.

“Professor Ursula,” the two of them greeted, Diana with a little nod, Akko with a sparkle in her eyes.

“Did you hear about our detention and volunteer to be our professor for it?” Akko asked.

“Ah, actually, no: no one was volunteering for it in the first place, and since I’m the most junior member of the staff… well… you know…” Ursula said, looking off to the side.

Akko frowned.

“… But please, know that I was quite happy to hear that it’d be you two I’d be supervising,” Ursula said as she turned back to them with a beaming smile—figuratively and literally.

Akko beamed right back, though hers was more like a fiery spark.

“Would you two like to commence your remedial training now?” Ursula asked. “I don’t want to rush you, but I _really_ don’t want to stay out here any longer than we strictly need to...”

Akko sat down on her haunches and raised her head high. “Ready to do whatever you need me to, Professor Ursula!”

“I’m prepared and eager to get this over with as well,” Diana said, standing at attention.

Ursula nodded. “Happy to hear it! Now, you two know the drill...”

Diana and Akko nodded, stepped some distance apart, closed their eyes, and were still.

Ursula’s eyes and the crystalline sections of her hide began pulsing, humming, and glowing. The blindingly bright desert around them seemed to turn to night as she absorbed the suns’ rays, before they were all cast in an ethereal glow like moonlight.

The glow faded from her eyes she looked at the Akko and Diana’s auras. “Hmm… _very_ interesting...”

“What do you see, Professor Ursula?” Akko asked, eyes still closed.

“Well, both your power levels are incredibly high as always, and your resonance is in close harmony—still a ways to go from perfect synchronization, but it’s a marked improvement from before your time in the Forest. However...”

“’However’ what?” Diana asked uneasily.

“Well, it’s better if you two see for yourselves,” Ursula said as she weakened her light. “You can open your eyes on three. One, two, three!”

Diana and Akko did so carefully—Ursula’s brilliance could be quite literally _blinding_. Their vision adjusted, Akko turned to Diana, while she turned her head upwards.

“… Huh...” Diana muttered.

Normally, her aura looked like a pillar of water, several flows slowly spiraling upwards and outwards like a vortex in reverse. Now, you could barely see any of the ice blue trails for how much of Akko’s raw, ruby red magic was thriving and burning in its place, what few flashes of ice blue fluid quickly consumed, and the fire burning hotter as a result, like it was gasoline.

“Is this a _good_ or a _bad_ thing…?” Akko asked.

“Well, it’s certainly nothing to worry about too much, that I’m sure of,” Ursula replied. “See your Bond?” she nudged her head forward.

Akko and Diana looked at the “bridge” between them, a pulsing, glowing flow of magic like purple magma.

“As you can see, it’s still more or less equal, with neither side overpowering, seriously disrupting, or shrinking away from the other.”

“But why is my magic all over Diana’s? I may have, uh, you know… given her a LOT lately, but we always, uh...” Akko trailed off awkwardly.

Diana blushed, brought her fist up to her mouth, and coughed. “… Harnessed and used its power nearly completely each time...” she said quietly.

“Y-Yeah, that!” Akko said. “Shouldn’t her aura have gone back to normal now?”

“Not if her aura’s so keen on feeding it!” Ursula said. “From my experience, you two usually operate by Akko providing raw power, while Diana controls, tempers, and harnesses it to more useful, directed applications. Now, it’s still Akko providing raw power, but Diana’s only feeding even more energy to it.

“Think of it like the difference between pouring gas into an engine’s fuel tank, versus on top of a bonfire.”

“Should we be trying to get her back to normal…?” Akko asked as Ursula dimmed even further, the light and heat of the Dustbowl beginning to return.

Ursula shrugged. “It’s entirely dependent on you two. Honestly, if it doesn’t cause any sort of serious problems with your daily lives, academics, or combat performance, I say explore all the new ways you can harness and use Diana’s magic now that it’s in this highly excitable state.

“That, or try and change roles, have Akko attempting control and focus while Diana channels raw power, and see what comes out of that—switching it isn’t just for the bedroom, you know,” she said, chuckling.

Diana blushed. “I actually would like to attempt to return to how I was before—or at least, seriously lower the intensity of my magic’s…” she struggled for words “… _excitability_ _._ As is, it’s teetering _dangerously_ wildly between being a _very_ good thing, or a potential catalyst for catastrophe, no in-between.”

“Would you happen to have any advice on what to do, Professor Ursula?” Akko asked.

“As a matter of fact, I do! But I’m afraid it’ll have to wait until after you’ve served your detention and we’ve teleported back to Luna Nova. Would that be okay with you?”

“It’s fair enough, Professor,” Diana said, Akko nodding.

Ursula hummed. “Good! So, now that the cause of your recent ‘issues’ seems to be excessively excited magical stores, today’s exercises are going to be focusing on letting all that power out...”

Akko and Diana listened in, their expressions serious as they switched back to training mode.

For the next few hours, Akko and Diana caused all manner of chaos in the Dustbowl: Akko spewing magma onto the walls and forming new gouges and caverns, Diana’s hands on her neck. Diana forming and firing off massive shards of ice with one hand and the other in Akko’s claw, the crystals shimmering and shaking violently before they exploded into storms of shrapnel. The two of them firing boulders at targets and off into the distance, Diana kneeling atop Akko’s head and aiming, while she used her mouth like a cannon.

The were frequent breaks for mana water, their focus to return, or just to catch their breaths, but as the sun kept on shining, the dry, dusty wind kept on blowing, and the exercises got more and more demanding, Akko and Diana found themselves weakening and tiring, until they were both slumped against each other, panting and sweating, hiding in the shade Ursula was providing with her wings and her magic.

“I think that’s enough training for today, girls,” she said. “Ready to get out of here?”

Akko and Diana both made affirmative-sounding groans.

Ursula focused her magic once more, all three of their forms started to turn into bright, ethereal light, before they shot off into the sky, arcing back to Luna Nova.

* * *

 **M** **onday, Early Evening**

The chandelier at the Celestial Spires’ hub began to glow brighter than usual, before three rays of light shot out from it to a ritual circle on the floor. Ursula reformed first, Akko and Diana were next, the two wobbling about in a daze, before they fell.

“Do you two need me to help you up to your room?” Ursula asked as she caught them both.

“Yes, please, Professor,” Diana mumbled.

“Thank you, Professor Ursula,” Akko said as she transformed into her humanoid form.

Ursula picked the both of them up by the backs of their uniforms, and carried them off to the tower they called home. She set them down at their kitchen table, before she transformed and started bustling about, getting them water and snacks.

“I suppose you two haven’t forgotten about my offer of advice for your other, more _private_ problem, hmm?” Ursula said as she sat down with them.

Diana and Akko nodded. “If you’ve got any advice specifically for taming my out-of-control libido, it would be much appreciated,” Diana said.

Ursula smiled sadly. “Sorry to sound like a broken record, or like I’m just rehashing what you’ve already heard, but as your professor and mentor, all I really can confidently say is that you two should communicate often, try and make plans in your schedules specifically for intimacy, but prioritize your studies and training first and foremost—you are here to become Storm Riders, after all...”

Diana sighed, and nodded solemnly.

“… But as a dragon who was also young, and in love: don’t be afraid to share any things you particularly want to do and _especially_ don’t want to, check-in frequently before, during, and after the act, make your consent clear at all times, and choose your risks _very_ wisely.

“It’s, ah, really only ever fun if you _don’t_ get caught...” Ursula said, looking off to the side.

Akko’s eyes widened. “Wait… were you and your old rider lovers, too?!”

“Akko!” Diana snapped.

“I’m sorry! It’s just, you know—I never knew, and this is huge--!”

“Well I’m surprised, too, but you don’t see me suddenly bringing up such a sensitive topic!”

Ursula held out her claws. “Girls!Girls! _G_ _irls!”_

Akko and Diana sat back in their seats and quieted down, if still antsy and fidgeting.

Ursula took a few calming breaths. “Diana: it’s fine… I am more than prepared for you two to ask questions about them, though please do understand if I can’t guarantee answers for all of them.”

Akko and Diana nodded. “So, did you two have the same ‘problem’ like we do?” Akko asked.

“Oh, yes, _definitely_ : Akko and I may be from different subspecies, but it seems one only needs to be Fire aligned for, ah, such a problem to occur.”

“And how did you deal with it, if we may ask...?” Diana continued. “Specific, detailed answers would be appreciated.”

Ursula paused.

* * *

**A Decade Ago…**

“And you’re _sure_ you two can’t make it?” Professor Badcock asked through holo.

“Yes, Professor Badcock...” a much younger Croix groaned, her cheeks flaming red, sweat pouring down her skin, a haze in her eyes that just _screamed_ “sick.” “I promise me and--” she stopped and coughed, before she groaned again “--Chariot will get better ASAP, and take the soonest retest we can...”

Badcock frowned. “Please don’t, especially if this entails any sort of cockamamie attempts to cure yourselves. You two just take as long as you need till you’re both back at 100%, though do be warned: I will be expecting _much_ more than that come your special exam.

“Does that sound fair, Ms. Meridies?”

“Mhmm...” Croix mumbled. “I’d like to try and get back to sleep now, Professor Badcock...”

“You and your partner rest well, and try not to push yourselves so hard next time,” Badcock hummed, before she shut off the connection.

The air was tense for a few moments as Croix and Chariot waited and dreaded Badcock or someone else calling again, but when a minute passed and it seemed like neither she nor any of the other staff were suspicious, they both sighed in relief.

“Oh, Illias, I can’t believe she bought it...” Croix muttered as she tilted her head back on her desk chair.

“Shh, careful! You might jinx us!” Chariot whispered as she knelt between Croix’s naked legs.

“Shit! Right, sorry...” Croix muttered.

They tensed up and waited again, but it fortunately, the Fates decided to spare them some more luck that day.

“… So,” Croix started, “I guess this means we’ve got the rest of the day off. _Totally_ illegally, which means we can’t leave our room, or talk to anyone outside of ourselves...”

“Mhmm…” Chariot hummed. “Probably shouldn’t stretch it too far past today, though—then they might _really_ get suspicious.”

“So I guess we’re just spending the whole day here in our room. Alone. Together. With no one bothering us, probably.”

“Yee-eep.”

Croix blushed, an eager smile spreading on her face. “… Could you try and do that thing where you make me see stars again…?”

Chariot giggled. “I’m going to see if I can get some planets in, this time~” she said before she dove back in.

* * *

**Present Day...**

Ursula smiled sympathetically, her face betraying nothing. “I’m afraid that I’m not willing to share that, nor would our solutions probably work with you two. Akko and I may share an alignment and similar personality traits, but aside from the fact that my former rider was not a Water weaver, she was _very_ different from Diana in many other ways.

“Every Bonded pair is unique in their own way, so it’s really only the two of you that can figure out works and what won’t.

Diana frowned, and nodded. “I understand, Professor Ursula... thank you for indulging our curiosity, I won’t pry further.”

“Are you sure you really sure they won’t work…?” Akko asked.

“ _Very,”_ Ursula said, nodding solemnly. She checked her comm-crystal, and noted the time. “Oh dear! It appears to be getting rther late; I’m afraid I need to leave, girls, or else I’ll fall even _further_ behind on my work...”

“Go on ahead, Professor Ursula, we’ve taken up enough of your time,” Diana said.

“Bye, Professor Ursula!” Akko said, waving.

Ursula headed back out the main doors and to the hub, leaving Akko and Diana alone in their room.

“Hey, Diana?”

“Yes, Akko?”

“Are you still horny? Because I’m pooped from the training earlier, and I just want to go to sleep now...”

“No, actually, because it seems all that casting drained my libido as well as my magic,” Diana said.

Akko chuckled. “Well, I guess that’s a fix for when you’re really horny, and we can’t—” she made a seductive dragon sound.

“A desperate last-resort, for sure,” Diana said. “I don’t think it’ll do either of us well if I’m constantly exhausted. We’ll have to look for other solutions--” she yawned “--tomorrow...”

“Glory be to that!” Akko said as she climbed off her chair. “You need me to carry you to your bed?”

Diana blushed. “Actually, Akko, could we sleep together in your nest tonight?”

Akko brightened up. “Sure! But what happened to trying to sleep apart after the Forest?”

“My lack of energy to take a proper bath, and my equally lacking desire to foul up my sheets, are what happened,” Diana replied.

Akko laughed, snorting a plume of flame out her nostrils. “Come on, then: let’s go be tired, disgusting, sticky, dusty, and sweaty together!” she said as she transformed into her dragon form.

Diana smiled as she pulled up the reinforced patch on the back of her uniform. “Ready when you are, Akko.”

Akko picked up Diana by the scruff of her neck, carried her over to her side of the room, and onto the fire-proof sheets, pillows, and cushions she called her nest. “Do you happen to have any clothes I could borrow?” Diana asked as she was set down onto them. “I don’t want to sleep in used uniforms again for a long while yet.”

“I’ve got just the thing!” Akko said, before she padded off to her small collection of human-sized clothing, and came back with a carefully wrapped bundle.

Diana unrolled it, and smiled as she saw what it was. “A Shiny Chariot official t-shirt… of course.”

“Elemental-proof, too~ Those cost super extra, it’s just not fair.”

“I’ll make sure not to mess it up too badly, Akko,” Diana said as she started taking off her uniform.

“Oh, I won’t mind if you rough it up a little—I, uh, actually have some _ideas_ for some things we can do while you’re wearing it...” Akko said as she laid down in her nest.

Diana eyes widened as she undid the straps of her shirt. “Well then…” she smiled. “Feel free to tell when we’ve got the opportunity, Akko~”

Soon, the two of them were curled up together, Diana resting in the crook of Akko’s neck, a wing protectively wrapped over her.

“Good night, Akko...” Diana mumbled, before she kissed a patch of scales on the side of Akko’s head. “I love you.”

“Good night, Diana, I love you too...” Akko muttered, gently nuzzling her head against Diana’s body, before they laid their heads down on their pillows and went to sleep.

* * *

**Monday, Late Evening**

Riders, dragons, and supports chatted, played, competed, trained, studied, fought, hooked up, broke-up, got back together again, and all manner of other activities, the Barn positively brimming with sounds, lights, sights, and smells as usual.

In humanoid form, Amanda casually weaved through the mess like all the other veteran dormers, dodging flying projectiles, stray magical orbs and spells, and the odd being careening through at high speeds, making her way past the common areas companies had taken for themselves, the livelier of the rooms being used as hang-outs or fronts for activities that stretched the or broke the rules of the student handbook, and stopped at a dragon-sized door adorned with all manner of warnings, written and symbolic.

She knocked on the much smaller humanoid section cut near the bottom, but unlike all the other times, didn’t barge in immediately—she had learned the hard way the first time, and didn’t want a repeat.

A minute later, it opened, but just a crack. A familiar sleepy, half-lidded eye carefully peered out, and from behind the wood, Amanda could feel Sucy’s mouth spreading into a _very_ big, fanged grin.

Sucy pulled the door the rest of the way open. “Please, come in,” she said as she gestured inside.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Amanda said, waltzing past her.

Sucy peeked out, looked side to side, then shut the door.

“So what is it you need me to do, anyway?” Amanda asked, looking around curiously and warily at the floor-to-ceiling mix of alchemical equipment and vibrant, almost untamed plant-life that was Sucy and Lotte’s room.

Sucy beckoned for her to follow, and they came over to one of her many alchemical stations, a pinkish fluid bubbling in the glassware, a case of Fireki’s Fizzy Fun soda (“Peppy Pickled Plum” flavour) beside what Amanda assumed to be the end point of the apparatus.

She stayed behind and watched as Sucy tinkered with her various tools and instruments, turning dials, watching tubes, introducing new reagents to the mix, before it finally ended with a tiny, pink ball on a foil wrapper.

Sucy carefully sealed it, then handed it and a bottle of Fireki’s to Amanda. “Open it and drug it as discretely as you possibly can.”

“ _Pfft!”_ Amanda snorted as she took the bottle in one claw, formed a secret compartment on her other wrist to put the pill in. “Too easy! Watch, and be amazed, Suse.”

“Just do it,” Sucy said flatly.

With the claw that held the pill, Amanda turned the base of her claw into a bottle opener. She popped the metal lid, her wrist and claw rapidly shifting and dropping the pill in, too fast to see. It barely made a splash as it slipped in, and thanks to it being almost the same colour as the soda, you probably wouldn’t have even noticed it before it dissolved.

Sucy grinned. “Good. _Very_ good...”

“So I’m assuming I give this to Akko, but what is this, and what’s the rest of the plan?”

“It’s a very, _very_ mild aphrodisiac, and you wait for it to kick in a few hours,” Sucy replied as she made a new pill, and dumped the drugged soda. “This won’t incite any sort of sexual feelings in Akko for anyone, but should she have any beforehand, it _will_ make them stronger.”

“Strong enough for her to really want to bang Diana, if the two of them are banging?” Amanda said as she was handed the new pill and two more bottles, before shoving them down her shirt and into a hollowed out portion of her chest.

“Exactly,” Sucy replied. “Then, the two of us just take turns observing them during the classes we have with them, and should one or the both of them have the ‘I just had sex’ look, we move on to more intensive investigations, if they don’t just tell us outright.”

Amanda nodded. “I’m liking this plan, Suse—even if it might mean I’ve lost ten grand.”

“Just make _sure_ Akko takes it, alright?”

“Sucy, please! This isn’t my first covert ops mission,” Amanda said. “I’ll make sure Akko chugs every last drop of this stuff.”

“You better,” Sucy said. “We’re going to have problems if Diana’s the one who takes it.”

“Pfft! Fuck yeah we will! As soon as it hits, she’ll probably just sit around in class all day sweating and squirming, blame it on cramps, or something...”

Sucy opened her mouth to speak, before someone knocked on the door, and they heard the unmistakable sound of a key going into the slot. Amanda acted casual, Sucy hid the rest of the bottles under the counter, just before Lotte entered the room.

“Welp, thanks for the help, Sucy!” Amanda said as she waved and strode out. “I’m gonna leave before you try ‘volunteer’ me a test subject again.”

“Any time,” Sucy said, “I could always use more data on metal dragon reactions.”

“Evening, Lotte,” Amanda said as she passed by her.

“Good evening, Amanda,” Lotte said as she came in with her books. She headed over to her side of the room, started putting away her things until she heard the door shut again. “Are you two planning anything?” she asked.

“No,” Sucy replied.

Lotte eyed her suspiciously, before she reluctantly let it go. Quietly, she hoped that if they were planning something, it wouldn’t end _too_ badly...

… So of course, when their plan went off the rails the next day, it was quite the fiery, explosive disaster.


	7. Chapter 7

**Tuesday, Early Morning**

Diana woke up to her stomach growling, and the uniquely fascinating and foul scent of flame dragon morning breath, with a hint her own personal stench. Having long gotten used to all three, she just pulled herself off her pillow and the crook of Akko’s neck, stretched and patted her scaly hide, before she went off for a much needed bath.

While Akko could get away with smelling like fermented shrimp paste burning on a stove, Diana had no such excuse, nor did she want people to mistake her presence for someone having sneaked in the infamous food from the northern archipelagos.

She’d just begun to pull off the Shiny Chariot shirt, when she felt a familiar “ping” in her mind, shortly followed by a pair of warm claws placing themselves over her hands, and a chin resting on her shoulder.

“Need some help?” Akko asked eyes flickering with mischief.

Diana smiled. “Later, Akko—getting ready for class first, food second, then we can see if we can squeeze in some eating of a different kind,” she replied, before she craned her neck and kissed Akko on the lips.

Her eyes widened as the flow of dragon-fire between them was just a brief spark, one that failed to ignite anything in her as usual. “Of course…” she muttered as she relaxed. “Basic chemistry: no fuel, no fire—Leopolus’ Curse, I feel so stupid right now!”

Akko looked at her curiously. “Uh, sorry Diana, but I’m not really following on whatever it is you’re trying to get me to see...” she said as she took her claws and chin off her.

“It’s a possible solution to my overactive libido, is what it is,” Diana said as she turned around to face her. “Akko, how do you feel about going on a diet for the next week or so?”

“Depends: what kind of diet are we talking about?”

“One devoid of refined sugars or high-fructose syrups, excessively spicy and/or fermented foods, and the bare minimum of culinary enchantments.”

Akko frowned. “So does this mean no soda, or ice cream, or pickled plums?”

“I’m afraid so, Akko, but I promise we’ll start experimenting and reintroducing them as soon as we can get some control data—just 24 hours of fasting, how’s that sound?”

“Hrrmm…” Akko grumbled.

Diana reached out and cupped her cheek. “You’ve survived six weeks without them, can’t you survive another day? For me?”

Akko sighed and looked away. “Well I did that mostly by distracting myself and counting down the days before we were back in Luna Nova...” she looked back at Diana, and gave her a small smile. “… But okay, I’ll add another day to it—for you.”

Diana leaned forward and kissed her again, the spark igniting between them again, a pleasant surge of heat running down her back. “Thank you, Akko. Though it might not be scientifically sound or recommended for the purposes of this experiment, you can binge on whatever you’d like tomorrow morning, my treat.”

Akko’s eyes widened. “Does that mean--”

“Cackling Calavera Crunchies? Yes.” Diana sighed. “I owe you that much for this, I suppose…”

“Yay!” Akko cried, before she launched forward and hugged Diana. She cried out as she sent them whirling round and round to keep from falling. “You’re the best, Diana,” she said as her hind claws touched the ground.

Diana took a moment to stabilize herself and wait for the world to stop spinning, before she smiled and said, “Thank you, Akko.”

“Any suggestions on what I should have for breakfast?”

“Fuerte Flakes should be good for our experiment,” Diana replied.

Akko’s ears and features drooped, before she sighed, and nodded her head. “Okay, got it,” she said as she stepped out of the bathroom and to their kitchen.

She wasn’t too happy to be pulling out the box of Fuerte Flakes from their pantry instead of the many other, much more tempting offers, but still, she poured out a big tub for herself. “It’s only for a day,” Akko thought to herself as she poured milk into it with a hose. “You can survive a day, right?” She smiled and was happy…

… up until she took her first bite, and grimaced.

As selfish as it was, she _really r_ ather hoped that this wasn’t the solution to their problem; regularly having flavourful foods _or_ sex with Diana was not a choice she wanted to make.

* * *

**Tuesday, Evening**

There really was no better way to be aware of how many snack dispensing machines, what brands and foods the Luna Nova student population most favoured, and what they would do to bypass strict teachers or classroom rules, than to be on a diet and be unable have any of those said snacks, Akko found.

She was fine during her morning classes, focusing and paying attention to her lessons as much as you could reasonably expect her to, but as she and Diana split ways for the latter’s more advanced and research-focused subjects, Akko lost the calming and focusing effect of their Bond, and her willpower was rapidly burnt up, it was starting to turn into a day of _suffering._

The Fuerte Flakes, the _skinless_ chicken breasts, and the dry jerky she c _ould_ eat weighed like rocks in her stomachs, and tasted about as good. She wasn’t hunched over and groaning from hunger pangs, but even the likes of Finneran seemed concerned that she wasn’t nearly as energetic as she usually was. And found herself staring far too much at anyone eating snacks next to her, eyeing bags of chips, bottles of soda, and wrapped up candies like Lotte did the 117th feature film of the _night fall_ series where Arthur and Edgar got right up to each other’s faces, barely any distance between the two of them, fire burning in their eyes...

… And just like that iconic scene, they sneered at each other one more time before turning away and going their separate ways, and break the hearts of legions of fans yet again.

“You know you can just ask for some, right?” Jasminka had said earlier, still regularly shoving mini-doughnuts into her mouth.

“I can’t,” Akko replied, eyes still locked on those creamy, vanilla and chocolate rings emerging from that colourful box. “Diana’s got me on a diet: no sugar, spices, and enchantments.”

Jasminka actually stopped, her features falling in an expression of deep _sadness_ and pity Akko had never realized possible. She nodded, and spent the rest of their class with the box of mini-doughnuts and her eating them hidden from Akko’s view.

“Thanks,” Akko said, before she tried to return to the lesson further delving into the Autana’s unique symbiotic relationship with the realm.

Now it was dinner time, and thanks to a message from Amanda asking her if she could make it up to her for causing Akko to get detention again, she found herself reluctantly joining the droves of humanoids and human students making their way into the Mess Hall.

Save for a school-wide feast, there was no livelier time than dinner time.

With majority of the students finishing the day’s studies and wanting to kick back and relax, many more just coming back from afternoon training exercises, and the rest loading up on energy for their drills later that night, every single table and corner was filled with diners and food, some of the best the cooks could whip up.

Hearty, slow cooked stews, roasts dripping and glowing as they rotated on the spits, and smoked fishes and meats, some of them absorbing flavour and growing more tender all day, or even the days before. Elaborate, colourful salads with rich sauces and seasonings, vegetarian roasts cooking alongside the whole animals and the giant slabs of meat, and steaming hot pies and bowls just fresh from the oven. And of course the desserts and the drinks: sodas and juices from most every continent of Stratos as demand and the budget allowed, moist and fluffy pastries lovingly frosted, sprinkled on, and/or topped, and containers being carefully removed from the freezers, frost pouring from the chilly delights they held.

All the sights, the sounds, the smells of food, beings eating food, beings talking about how delicious the food was, how happy they were to finally be able to _eat_ that food…

… It was _maddening._

Still, Akko made a promise, and Amanda had seemed really, honestly apologetic in her message, and she didn’t want her to think that her rejecting it was her still being mad at her for the explosion.

She hurried down the long, humanoid-sized tables with a tracking holo in the corner of her vision, getting closer and closer to Amanda’s signal, trying not to breath in too deeply, ignoring the rumblings of her stomach, dodging the aromas that weren’t gently caressing her and coaxing her to follow them so much as grab her head, and drag her to the source by her horns.

Amanda spotted her first, smiling and waving as she leaned back on the bench she was sitting on and patted the free seat next to her; she frowned and looked concerned as Akko slipped in beside her. “Mithros, Akko, you look like you’re about to fucking _snap_ … long day?” Amanda asked as she put a claw on her shoulder.

“Mhmm...” Akko whimpered as she slumped forward, trying to keep her eyes from straying to the whole roast boar a trio of Gigantes were sharing. “Diana’s got us both on a diet.”

“Wow. Right after the Forest, too. That’s just _cruel.”_

“She’s got a good reason for it...” Akko mumbled. She sucked in a deep breath, forced a smile, and looked at Amanda. “So, you said you wanted to apologize for yesterday?”

Amanda grinned. “Hell yeah I do!” she said she reached into her chest with both claws.

Akko’s eyes widened. “Oh my _gosh! Pickled Plum Fireki’s!_ I haven’t had those in FOREVER!”

“I know!” Amanda said as she laid them down on the table. “How about you and me have a chug-off to celebrate…?” she asked as she popped the caps, handed one to Akko.

Akko’s grin turned competitive. She raised her claw, eyes sparking with fire as she was about to swipe the bottle right off the table… but her nails stopped right before they touched the glass. “Sorry, Amanda, I can’t…” she muttered as she pulled her claw away, her features, wings, and tail drooping. “Fireki’s is definitely on the ‘can’t have’ list.”

Amanda frowned. “Aww, c’mon, Akko, you just spent six weeks in the Forest, and obviously just had a _really_ crappy day because of this whole diet business—one drink’s not going to ruin everything, is it…?” she hummed as she held the bottle up to Akko’s face.

The carbon bubbles tickled her nose, the temptingly sour, salty, syrupy aroma seeping in soon after. Akko’s claw trembled as she lifted it up again, claws slowly wrapping around the bottle… then she stopped, and slammed i into her lap.

“Sorry, Amanda,” she said as she turned away. “Diana’s probably going to kill me if she finds out I broke my diet.”

“I won’t tell, and it looks like she’s not around!” Amanda said, smiling. “Just one bottle, one chug-off? We haven’t had those in WAY too long.”

“Tomorrow, I promise!” Akko said. “I’ll even buy you a whole case of Fireki’s, your choice!”

“But why not the ones we’ve got right here…?” Amanda asked, holding it out to Akko once more.

It was snatched out of her claws.

“Because, as Akko _repeatedly_ said, she’s on a diet, and regardless of whether or not you two or anyone else in this dining hall says anything, I have _other_ means of sussing out the truth,” Diana said as she held the bottle close to her chest.

Amanda scowled at her, Akko smiled and sighed in relief.

Diana turned to Akko. “Akko, I apologize for the distress I’ve caused you because of our new diet, and I applaud your self-control and willpower—I’ll make sure you’re duly rewarded in good time.” She turned to Amanda. “As for you, Amanda… if you’re so insistent on having this ‘chug-off’ right here and now, I suppose you’ll have to do with me as your competitor instead.”

Amanda blinked. “Wait, aren’t you two _both_ on a diet?”

“Yes, but Akko’s the bigger concern, given how volatile her biochemistry is, and if getting rid of temptation means having to humour your childish competition, then so be it,” Diana said.

“Diana, I wanted to do this with Akko—I even went through the trouble of getting her favourite flavour! You know how hard it is to find this stuff in this continent?”

“Well we can’t always get what we want, and I’m sure she appreciates the effort and the thought, _but_ I only care about maintaining our diet.”

“Can’t you just let her have this _one_ bottle?”

“ **No.** Something this carbonated, loaded with sugar, and culinary enchantments is the very _image_ of what I want Akko to _avoid_. Are you sure I or another being out here can’t be your competitor? You can find someone who likes this flavour, and is amenable to a ‘chug-off,’ can’t you…?”

The air grew tense as Diana locked eyes with Amanda’s, both of their gazes growing sharper by the second.

“Well, Amanda…?” Diana asked.

Amanda raised her bottle. “You chug until the very last drop then you slam it back down on the table, and if there’s any—and I mean any, even just a little bit of soda left in the bottom of the bottle, it doesn’t count, alright?

“And don’t think of spilling most of it, or using your magic to vortex it down your throat, that’s cheating.”

“ _Please_ _,_ Amanda: I follow my family’s code of honour in all things I do, even such immature challenges as this,” Diana said as she did the same.

Akko spun around on the bench, looking at the two of them with a huge grin on her face. “Ready? On ‘chug’: three, two, one—chug!”

Amanda and Diana knocked both their drinks back, the bright pink fluid bubbling and fizzing like mad. Amanda slammed her bottle down first, completely empty, Diana sputtered and coughed Fireki’s down the front of her vest, her bottle about a quarter full.

“ _Hah!_ I win!” Amanda cried, throwing the horns up into the air.

“OH ILLIAS, AKKO, YOU— _hic!_ \--DRINK THIS STUFF FOR— _hic!_ \--PLEASURE…?!” Diana cried, pink bubbles flying out from her mouth with each hiccup.

“It’s an ‘acquired taste,’ I hear,” Amanda said as she wiped her mouth on her sleeve.

“ACQUIRE— _hic!_ \--ACQUI-- _hic!_ \--AC-- _hic!_ \--FUCK!-- _hic!_ \--AK— _hic!_ \--KO-- _hic!_ \--MAKE IT— _hic!_ \--STOP!” Diana cried as the air started to fill with the bubbles.

“Don’t worry, Diana, I know just what to do to stop Fireki hiccups!” Akko said as she got off the table and lead Diana off.

“This— _hic!_ \--bet-- _hic!_ \--ter— _hic!_ \--work!” Diana grumbled as she followed after her, leaving a trail of bubbles in her wake.

Amanda watched them weave their way through the crowds and out the cafeteria, waiting for the bubbles near her to pop on their own, before she pulled out her comm-crystal and discretely messaged Sucy.

“Hey, Suse, change of plans: couldn’t get Akko to chug the soda without blowing the secret, so I got Diana to do it instead. She only managed to drink like 3/4’s of it, though.”

The reply was almost instant: “Get to somewhere private and call me NOW.”

Amanda raised her eyebrows, before she did just that, slipping into one of the bathrooms and hiding in a stall. She called Sucy, and her face popped right in front of her in seconds. “What the _fuck_ did you _not_ understand about ‘Make _sure_ Akko takes it?!”

“Relax, Suse! It’s just mild stuff, right?”

“For **DRAGONS,** _you dumbass!_ It’s a very, _very_ mild aphrodisiac for **DRAGONS!** Did it ever occur to that thick skull of yours that it’d take several metric shit tons more of chemicals to even make a _dent_ in a dragon as large as Akko VS a human like Diana, and that I’d be designing with a Flame Dragon’s multi-stage, multi-stomached digestive system in mind?!”

“… No…?”

Sucy groaned. “Oh, _fuck_ _ **us**_ **,** we’ve got a situation...”

“How bad are we talking about here…?” Amanda asked.

Their conversation was interrupted by new calls on both ends, from the same person:

Diana.

The two of them looked at each other, before they reluctantly answered her. Holos of her Diana’s appeared before them, cheeks burning, sweat pouring down her skin, frosty pink breaths pouring out of her mouth, Bond tattoos glowing and surging as she growled:

“You two get to my location _right fucking now.”_

 _Beep._ Trackers appeared in the corners of both their screens as Diana’s face disappeared.

Sucy looked at Amanda. “If you bail on fixing this with me, I’m putting in oxidizers in your food and water,” she said, before she hung up.

Amanda’s face fell, before she burst out of the bathroom, down the halls, and to wherever the hell Diana’s comm-crystal was transmitting from. “ _Note to self,”_ she thought as she transformed into dragon form for more speed, _“start giving a fuck about odds again.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akko has four stomachs.
> 
> The first is a “digestion chamber” filled with very strong acids and aggressive bacteria, that breaks down food and other materials into nutrients, and their raw magical energy, amounts depending on concentration.
> 
> A roast chicken breaks down mostly into the former, mana water into mostly the latter.
> 
> The second is the “sorting chamber” which acts as a junction between Akko’s third and fourth stomachs, which have _very_ different functions from each other.
> 
> The third is the “storage and fermenting chamber” of the volatile gases, pure magic, other bacteria, and chemicals that give Akko her dragonfire. It actually has a direct line to her lungs, of which she has five individual sacs.
> 
> The fourth is a “defusing and disposal chamber” that stores the excess of those gases, bacterial, chemicals, and indigestible material, renders them inert and unreactive, before sending them to her excretory system.
> 
> Digestive health is life-and-death to flame dragons—whereas humans get flatulence, they might _literally_ explode.


	8. Chapter 8

**Some** **T** **ime Back, Before the Forest of Beginnings**

“Haaah, it’s so not fair that I can only eat so many pickled plums at once...” Akko mumbled as she laid on her back in dragon form, her belly noisily, ominously rumbling from the barrels’ worth of the stuff she’d just eaten. “I hope one day, there’s a spell or a potion that lets me just eat as many of these as I’d like _without_ exploding...”

Diana sighed as she looked at the open barrels laying around, and the juice spilling all over their floors. “And for now, I _sincerely_ hope your gorging on these won’t become a problem…” she muttered as she started siphoning them off the floors with her magic. “Honestly, Akko, it’s as if these won’t last for _months_ , with or without our intervention...”

Akko rolled on her side, her distended belly slouching towards Diana. “Do you want some?” she asked. “I think there’s probably some leftover in one of those barrels.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised, with how you just grabbed, gulped, then dropped them...” Diana muttered as the juice started to grow into a sizable ball. She took a moment to peer into one of the barrels that landed right side up, and did indeed find a number of pickled plums left at the bottom, spared from the abuse of Akko’s teeth or drool.

“Try em!” Akko said, catching wind of her thoughts. “You won’t regret it.”

Diana briefly considered it, before she shook her head. “My apologies, Akko, but I’m not _that_ curious.”

“Aww, you sure? I can give you a little preview~!” Akko said, before Diana felt feelings of satisfaction, delight, and a phantom sour and salty taste on her tongue.

Diana gently pushed her out of mind, and returned to clean-up. “Still not convinced, Akko, sorry.”

“Okay,” Akko said, “but if you ever decide to try them, tell me how you found them, alright?”

“I will, Akko,” Diana replied.

And now that she had tasted pickled plums, she did not hesitate to tell Akko what she thought of them:

“ _Akko, that was one of the_ worst _things I have ever_ _consumed_ _in my entire life,”_ Diana said, through their Bond as she was still hiccuping bubbles. “ _And I say this with Sucy’s ‘Inui Juice’ included.”_

“ _Maybe try drink it more slowly next time?”_ Akko replied as she lead her out of the Mess Hall. “It _takes technique and training to chug Fireki’s right.”_

“ _Not when this is how it feels afterward!”_ Diana replied, ignoring the curious and amused looks from passersby. _“It’s like my entire bloodstream’s been turned into that_ damned _soda after an earth weaver got done shaking it for fun!”_ she thought, just as she hiccuped another batch of bubbles.

“ _You’re probably just overwhelmed from drinking too much of it at once,”_ Akko said as the crowd began thinning, and she turned into a nearly deserted hallway. _“Trust me, it gets better the second time onwards.”_

“ _What, the vile taste of those pickled plums, or whatever enchantments and alchemy Fireki’s creators assumed would be ‘Fun?’”_ Diana said as they stopped before a humanoid sized closet.

“ _Both!”_ Akko replied as she looked side to side, noted the beings around them and the angles of the security comm-crystals.

“ _I’m assuming whatever is supposed to stop these damn_ _able_ _bubbles involves this supply closet and stealing some materials?”_ Diana asked.

“ _Half-right!”_ Akko replied, before she grinned at Diana and swiftly pulled them into the closet, discretely shutting the door behind them.

_Thumph!_

What few bottles, jugs, and containers of cleaning supplies were on the shelves rattled as Akko pushed Diana against the wall, let go of her vest and planted her claws on the sides of her head, smiling with her eyes flickering with mischief. _“I just_ really _needed someplace private so I could get rid of those bubbles AND keep our_ _secret..._

Her expression softened. _“By the way, I didn’t push you too hard, did I?”_

“ _Not at all!”_ Diana replied, smiling back. _“And on a related note, I apologize if this feels more like mouth-punch than a kiss,”_ she said, before she grabbed the sides of Akko’s head and pressed her lips against hers.

The spark was back, stronger like you’d smashed two sizable pieces of flint together. But, there was no raging fire, no explosion of heat, and the sparks rapidly faded away into nothing, so Diana kept on kissing Akko, gently caressing her cheek and the back of her hair, relishing the feeling of her warm, slightly scaly lips against hers, the steady flow of mutual pleasure pouring in from the Bond.

“ _Hmm…_ _I guess this is how Bound pairs where neither have the Gift must feel like when they make-out,”_ Diana mused as she pulled away for air, the bubbles now weakened.

“ _It’s kinda weird,”_ Akko said as she panted, her breath noticeably warmer, but not by much. _“But kinda good, too. I guess this means we could just spend hours_ _tongue-spelunking_ _without you having to call it quits, huh?”_

Diana grinned. _“Indeed._ _You w_ _ant to find out how it feels like when we have sex,_ _though_ _?”_

Akko chuckled. _“I was just about to ask, actually!”_

Diana closed her eyes as Akko leaned in to kiss her, pinned her against the wall with her weight, just enough space between them for her to slip her claws into Diana’s vest, pull it up till just above her breasts.

Akko quickly undid the buttons of her shirt, and pulled it open. Diana moaned as she felt her carefully slip her claws in into the cups of her bra, nails gently raking and sinking against the soft flesh of her breasts, caressing the sides before her thumbs idly flicked on her nipples, sending twin sparks of dragon-fire into her system…

… And just like that, the aphrodisiac activated, like someone had lit a match in a room that had been flooding with flammable gas.

“MRMHPFF!” Diana cried as the pill’s magic exploded in her bloodstearm, her Bond tattoos beginning to glow and pulse like crazy, pink, steam-like vapours pouring out of her mouth and her nose.

Akko stiffened, _very_ carefully pulled her claws off Diana’s breasts, then held her up by her shoulders. “Holy shit, Diana, are you alright?!”

“No! _Fuck!”_ Diana yelled, the pink vapours starting to look like cold mist as it dissolved in her magic, contrasting the incredible heat starting to build up between her legs. She made a sound halfway between a growl and a whimper. _“Damn it_ , I _knew_ there was something suspicious about how badly Amanda wanted you to drink that soda...”

“But why would she…?” Akko paused, her features falling. “Oh. Sucy and the bet… you want me to go call her?”

“We’ll deal with her later, Akko, because for now, we have a _much_ more urgent concern,” Diana said, her words getting faster and her breath growing shallower by the second.

Akko sniffed the air, her eyebrows rising as she knelt down in front of Diana and lifted up her skirt. “Oh, _wow_ —this is some _super_ potent stuff Sucy used, huh?” she asked as she saw just how _soaked_ in arousal Diana’s panties were, the excess already beginning to drip down her thighs.

“Y-Yes, _please help me...”_ Diana whimpered as her knees buckled, she bent forward and planted her hands on Akko’s shoulders.

“Was already on it!” Akko said as she hooked her nails into her underwear.

Diana gasped as Akko pulled her panties down, the cool air of the closet rushing over her sopping wet folds, arousal dripping and raining down onto the floor below. Akko buried her face between her legs and went to work immediately, but no matter how good it felt to have that warm, wet tongue and those sharp, skilled nails on her pussy, the fire inside her kept on raging painfully, barely affected.

In terms of relief, it was like blowing _really_ hard on a raging forest fire, or more accurately, lighting up a small patch of grass and hoping that control fire was enough to stop the advancing wall of flaming doom.

“AGH!” Diana cried. “Akko: crumpet, crumpet, crumpet! _This isn’t working!”_

Akko stopped and pulled away, her lips and cheeks glistening and dripping with Diana’s need. “You think it might work if try some dirty talk again?”

“Maybe, but I’m not willing to suffer even more if it doesn’t work—what we _need_ is Amanda and Sucy to come fix their mess...” Diana said as she struggled to activate her comm-crystal, and called them both. She struggled for a few moments, before she growled, “You two get to my location _right fucking now.”_

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Akko asked as Diana activated her comm-crystal’s tracker.

Diana chewed her lip, more frosty pink mist pouring out of her mouth, sweat pouring down her whole body. “Do you think you could try and sap some of the excess heat off me? Or just hold me, kiss me, and try to distract me? Maybe both?”

“I’ll try,” Akko said as she got up and wrapped her arms around Diana, cradled her head in her shoulder, giving her kisses and whispered words as her tattoos glowed and sapped the heat in Diana.

It barely helped, but with the fire inside her feeling like it was _slowly eating her alive_ , Diana would take all the relief she could get…

* * *

Amanda rounded a corner and into the hallway where Diana and Akko were, transforming back into humanoid form mid-stride, expertly landing on the floor and sliding till she stopped just before the closet door. She looked around, waited for a few moments to see if her rushing had attracted any unwanted attention, and when it seemed like the coast was clear, she pinged Diana back with her comm-crystal.

As smoothly and inconspicuously as she could, she perched against the wall, and waited.

 _Ding_. A new message popped up on her screen, from Diana. “Whres sucy” (“Where’s Sucy?”) it read.

“Still not here. You want me to group chat us?”

“Y” (“Yes.”)

“Sucy, the fuck’s taking you so long?” Amanda asked after she did.

“Learning you fucked up a super simple plan, and being forced to abandon an experiment midway through to ensure nothing explodes or destroys my equipment while I try and fix your screw up. Researching a solution and talking to you two with one head while the other tries to keep me from running into things. Not having legs—really hard to run without those, trust me.”

“Vwf hdi u hd 2 me?!!!” (“What the fuck did you do to me?!!!”) Diana asked.

“I’m assuming from your suddenly terrible grasp of Lyrika that the aphrodisiac’s already hit your bloodstream, which is weird—it shouldn’t have activated THAT quickly, even with the overdose. What did you two do?”

“S n rly d tme fro tnhis” (“Is now really the time for this?”)

“Yes. If I know exactly what the accelerant was, I can better figure out how I can neutralize the effects.”

There was a brief pause. “Drgaihn gilre.” (“Dragon-fire.”)

“I’m assuming you meant ‘dragon-fire?”

“Y” (“Yes.”)

Amanda internally winced. _“Shit,_ did you two get together in the Forest and I just lost 10 grand?”

“Fuka u ameatonda and fukoa ur fcksniag bet” (“Fuck you, Amanda, and fuck your fucking bet!”)

“Wow, this aphrodisiac is hitting you really hard, isn’t it?” Amanda asked.

“Could also just be because she’s usually super horny for Akko, and this just eradicated any sense of self-control and composure she has. You know the aloof, snobbish, bookish types: always secretly the kinkiest bitches around.”

 _Ding._ A shaky holo of Diana’s middle finger appeared in the chat.

“Jsutaco fuckinta] fix tins” (“Just fucking fix this.”)

“Okay, I only got ‘fix’ out of that, so I guess this means I gotta guard this door until Sucy comes in with an antidote.” Amanda paused. “You _do_ have an antidote for this, don’t you Sucy?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Uroa joknicg” (“You’re joking.”)

“Does it seem like I’d joke about this?”

“Shit, then what do we do?! Just stand here and try not to look suspicious until it wears off all on its own?”

“FDUK THAT” (“FUCK THAT!”)

“No, _I_ stand here and guard this door, while you, Amanda, go run around and get me all the ingredients I need for the potion that’s going to solve this. I need 2 gallons of Chilly Billy ‘Choco Mocha Latte’ ice cream, 1 liter of Sgt. Pik-U-Up ‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,’ 500 grams of Cereza Valley Black Coffee beans, a kilogram of peanut butter, and two bags of ice—brand and flavour doesn’t matter for the last two, but it does for the rest.”

“Daso a lot aof caffenie sureao itownt kille akkol” (“That’s a lot of caffeine, sure it won’t kill Akko?”)

“Maybe, maybe not. Are you sure you want to be trapped in a closet while you wait for your sex drive to calm the fuck down?”

“NO”

“Then tell Akko to get ready to drink up something that isn’t you pretty soon.”

Sucy slithered in shortly after, and Amanda broke for the nearest vending machines.

“Haaah...” Hannah sighed as she and Barbara stood in front of one such machine, eyeing the choices on the interface, frowning at all the “Not Available” notices. “I swear, the work and the loads get heavier each year, but all the nice stuff keeps getting less and less…”

“At least they’re still good at keeping the staples,” Barbara said as she keyed in their order, and their credit details.

Hannah nodded as two 500 ml cans of Sgt. Pik-U-Up Whiskey Tango Foxtrot appeared through a rip in reality. “What would academies everywhere do without good old Sgt. Pik-U-Up?” she asked as she lifted the sliding lid and claimed their drinks.

“Who knows?” Barbara replied as Hannah handed her one. “It sure is ‘time for double-time’ all over again, though.”

Hannah cracked open her can, tipped the rim to Barbara. “Down the hatch, soldier,” she said, before they both brought it to their lips.

“WAIT, _WAIT_ , _**WAIT**_ **!”** Amanda cried as she rushed in, transforming mid-stride.

Barbara and Hannah stopped and put their cans down, crying out and scowling as Amanda snatched them from their hands.

“Need these for an Akko-related emergency but ran out of money, thanks!” she said as she prepared to stuff them into her chest.

“Hey!” Barbara cried, thrusting out her hand, concentrated magic balling and spinning in her palm.

“ _Shhiiiiiittttt...”_ Amanda said through gritted teeth as she felt herself pulled towards her, the Sgt. Pik-U-Up almost getting pulled out of the cans from the force of her gravity well. She spun around to keep from falling backwards, Hannah and Barbara took the opportunity to steal their drinks back.

Amanda’s eyes widened. “Mithros, don’t you two personally know how quickly an Akko-situation get _worse_? I need those drinks, now!”

“We know, which is why we want to know what it is she’s done wrong thi- time, and how we can help!” Barbara said as she dispersed her gravity well and tightened her grip on her can.

“I’ll tell you all about it later, and you can help by giving your drinks back! Diana’s all caught up in this business as usual, and I need to get these to her, ASAP!” Amanda said.

Barbara and Hannah looked at Amanda, then at each other. “You better pay us back for these tomorrow!” Hannah said as they handed the cans over.

“I will, I promise!” Amanda said, stuffing them into the hollowed out portion of her chest with the rest of the ingredients, before she bolted down the hallways once more.

“We finding out what the heck’s going on?” Hannah asked.

“ _Definitely,”_ Barbara said as she tapped the ground with her foot. A glowing trail appeared over the ancient stone, showing them exactly where Amanda had gone, all thanks to the can Barbara had enchanted.

* * *

“Amandoa her the fcuks are you” (“Amanda, where the fuck are you?!”)

 _Ding!_ Trackers appeared before Sucy and Diana’s eyes, showing Amanda’s comm-crystal signal rapidly getting closer and closer.

“Mithros, took you long enough!” Sucy said into the chat. “How hard is it to go shopping for this stuff during the dinner rush?”

Amanda came back into view, transforming back into humanoid form and cradling her chest as she padded up to Sucy. “Y-Y-You’d be _surprised,_ ” she said, her teeth chattering as she opened her chest hollow.

Sucy pulled all the contents out and set them aside. “Tail.”

Amanda removed her tail, hollowed it out and widened it into the shape of a bucket with a funnel at the bottom.

Sucy dumped all of the ingredients in. “Blend.”

Amanda nestled her tail-bucket into the crook of one arm, turned her free claw’s nails into razor sharp blades, before she dipped it into the mixture and stirred until it was all an even, smooth slurry. Sucy knocked on the door.

Akko hesitantly stuck her face out, Amanda poised the funnel over her, Sucy spat into the top of the mixture. “Drink.”

Akko obediently opened her jaws, Amanda stuffed the funnel down her throat, spinning it round and round and forcing all that catalyzed caffeine to come pouring straight down into her stomach as quickly as possible.

Amanda pulled it out of her mouth when it was completely empty, then reshaped and reattached her tail to her hindquarters, Akko coughed and sputtered as she choked on the mix, Sucy pushed her back into the closet and closed the door.

“Whatoa happenaos now” (“What happens now?”) Diana asked.

“Now, we _wait.”_ Sucy replied.

Not three seconds later, they heard a sound not unlike a combustion engine that had just been injected with several hundred gallons worth of nitrous oxide, felt a thump and shaking of the walls, shortly followed by some _very_ telling noises emanating from inside.

“ _Wow_ ,” Amanda said, “sounds like they are REALLY going at it, huh?”

“No hesitation, too, like they’ve already done it plenty of times...” Sucy said, smiling.

“H-Hey, there’s a chance they didn’t hook up in the Forest, and they’ve been fucking for a while! Then we both lose.”

“Or maybe you lose, while I win ten grand and a whole lot of pocket change,” Sucy hummed.

The conversation stopped as they were suddenly aware of Hannah and Barbara rounding the corner and stalking towards them, an enchanted trail pulsing and glowing on the floor, right up to one of the empty Sgt. Pik-U-Up cans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you might have suspected by now, Sucy’s swamp dragon biochemistry is a vital and especially potent part of any serious alchemist’s list of reagents.
> 
> Barbara is an Earth Weaver. She specializes in Channeling magic, which allows her to either enchant her own body and grant herself magical properties like her own gravitational pull via vastly increased and focused mass and energy, or as you've just seen, enchant items for various purposes, metals and rocks in particular.
> 
> Also, I couldn't fit the joke in well, but Sucy dubs her new potion the "Akko-A-Go-Go."


	9. Chapter 9

**Tuesday, Evening**

Akko stood with her back to the wall, one leg out and firmly planted on the ground, Diana straddling her thigh and grinding her clit against the line between soft human skin and rough dragon scales, her eyes shut tight, sweat cascading down her skin, pink frost pouring out her mouth with every pained pant and whimper.

The aphrodisiac kept on raging through Diana’s system, the heat consuming and overwhelming every part of her except one last patch of sanity, all that kept her from turning into a weeping, _painfully_ horny mess, protected solely by Akko’s sheer determination and willpower.

It was fire against fire, like two jets of flame pushing against each other and ignoring all laws of physics and the arcane arts, and Diana was all too aware that Akko was slowly, steadily losing this fight.

_Knock-knock-knock._

Akko looked at the door. _“Should I?”_ she asked.

“ _Go,”_ Diana said as she reluctantly pulled away from Akko’s thigh, put her back against the wall. _“But_ hurry...”

Akko nodded, and headed to the door. Diana watched as she was forced to drink whatever concoction Sucy had whipped up now, frowned as Akko stumbled back onto her butt, coughing and sputtering it back up.

“ _Are you okay?”_ she asked.

“ _Kinda, I guess,”_ Akko replied, wiping her mouth on her sleeve before she stood back up.

Diana hovered a shaking hand over her comm-crystal, typed “What happens now?” as best as she could.

“Now, we _wait.”_ Sucy replied.

Diana frowned, her lips trembling and her knees quaking as she felt the aphrodisiac take advantage of Akko’s absence, move in for the kill while she was defenseless. _“Akko…?”_ she thought frantically. “Do _you feel any different...?!”_

Akko turned to look at her, opened her mouth to speak.

WrrrRRR _R_ _R_ _MM_ _ **MMMM…!**_

Diana’s eyebrows rose, the ravenousheat temporarily forgotten as she heard the sound of a combustionengine going from zero to _far_ beyond its max speed in an instant, saw Akko’s eyes and Bond tattoos explode and glow with bright light, felt the cool air of the storeroom suddenly grow incredibly warm.

_Thumph!_

The walls shook and bottles rattled on their shelves as Akko was suddenly back in front of Diana, her claws on either side of her face, her eyes wide open, smoke and flame pouring out from her mouth and nostrils, her appearance distorted as if she were _vibrating_.

“Diana,” she whispered calmly, “I feel like I could fuck you from now till the end of time. Do you want me to?”

Diana blinked. _“Yes.”_

Akko kissed her, her dragon-fire exploding into Diana’s system, the shockwave blasting back the aphrodisiac, and replacing it with something MUCH more pleasant and _powerful_. Diana’s eyes widened, stunned for a moment, before she was kissing right back, moaning and squealing as she felt Akko’s ripping open her shirt, her nails roaming all over her skin, rapidly making their way down her hips, up her skirt, her arousal-coated thighs, getting closer and closer to her sopping wet panties...

Akko broke the kiss, saliva dripping down their lips, smoke and fire spilling out with every breath. She put her mouth up to Diana’s ear, so close she could feel the tongues of flame licking her skin. “Cum hard for me, okay?” Akko whispered.

And as Akko pressed her nails onto Diana’s pussy, the surge of dragon-fire finally pushing her over the edge and into an orgasm she so _desperately_ needed, Diana tilted her head back and _screamed._

Outside the door, Amanda and Sucy winced, the latter’s sound-sensitive ear-fins folding like a fan.

“ _Wow_ ,” Amanda said, “sounds like they are REALLY going at it, huh?”

“No hesitation, too, like they’ve already done it plenty of times...” Sucy said, smiling.

“H-Hey, there’s a chance they didn’t hook up in the Forest, and they’ve been fucking for a while! Then we both lose.”

“Or maybe you lose, while I win ten grand and a whole lot of pocket change,” Sucy hummed.

The conversation stopped as they were suddenly aware of Hannah and Barbara rounding the corner and stalking towards them, an enchanted trail pulsing and glowing on the floor, right up to one of the empty Sgt. Pik-U-Up cans.

Sucy looked up from the can, and glared at Amanda. “And just when I thought you couldn’t fuck things up even more…” she muttered, just out of Hannah and Barbara’s hearing. “I’ll take the lead, you follow.”

“Okay,” Amanda whispered back, before the two of them faced Hannah and Barbara, looking as casual or inconspicuously disinterested as they could.

“What the fuck are you two up to?” Hannah asked.

“And what was that noise? It sounded like Diana _screaming!”_ Barbara added.

“If I answer your questions, will you two go away?” Sucy asked.

Barbra and Hannah turned to each other, cast wary looks at Sucy, before Hannah replied, “Okay, fine. We’ll leave if you tell us.”

“We drugged Akko and Diana then locked them into this closet,” Sucy said flatly.

Hannah, Barbara, and Amanda stared at her, silence but for the faint, wet and heated sounds coming from inside.

“Amanda, block the door.” Sucy said.

While Hannah and Barbara flew into an enraged panic, Amanda jumped onto the door, spreading her limbs outwards, her nails turning into spikes and burying themselves into the wooden frame.

Meanwhile, inside the closet, Akko had her nails knuckle-deep inside Diana, constantly pistoning in and out of her sopping wet folds, arousal spilling all over the floor and the shredded remains of her panties, even more gushing out each time she came.

They kissed, tongues sloppily tangling with each other, drool dripping down their lips and their chins onto their bare chests. They pulled away for breath, smoke and fire pouring out of their mouths with every shallow, heated pant. They whispered, whimpered, squealed, and moaned, filthy words or unintelligible babbling right into the others ear.

“Ah— _Akkoooo…_ _!”_ Diana whined as she came again, arms wrapped tightly around Akko as her whole body shook, her arousal gushed all over Akko’s claw again.

Akko pulled her nails out, grinned and hummed as she listened to the sound of all that arousal raining down from Diana’s pussy, onto hot, wet mess on the floor. _“Wow: what orgasm number is this?”_ she thought.

“ _No_ _t a_ _fucking clue!”_ Diana replied, panting hard and still shaking. _“More, please.”_

“ _Turn around, then~”_ Akko hummed.

With a claw holding her hand, Diana carefully stepped about in the puddle of her own arousal, her boots making soft splashes. _“Hey Diana?”_ Akko asked as Diana planted her palms on the wall, pressed her butt back against Akko’s hips.

“ _Yes, Akko?”_

“ _I REALLY like the ‘ripped-up clothes and boots’ look on you.”_

“ _Me too, Akko, me too_ ,” Diana replied, smiling and moaning as she could feel Akko pressing her breasts against her back, her claws reaching around her sides, the one from earlier cupping a breast, the other slipping between her legs and onto her clit.

Outside, Barbara scowled and raised her hand, a new ball of energy spinning and forming in her palm.

Sucy grabbed her wrist.

“Let _go._ ” Barbara hissed, narrowing her eyes.

“No.” Sucy replied, calm as ever.

“Do you _want_ to get ripped apart?!”

“Do you _want t_ o find out if it’s _really_ Diana that came back from the Forest?”

Barbara stopped, the ball slowing down before rolling back into her wrist and her body.

“What are you talking about...?” Hannah asked.

Sucy scowled. “As I’ve been TRYING to explain but _couldn’t_ because you two wouldn’t stop _shouting over me_ , myself and Amanda have been trying to find out if the Diana and Akko that came back from the Forest were the same ones that went in.”

“So you’re saying they could be doppelgangers?”

“Or alternate versions of themselves in the wrong reality, thanks to a screw-up in the teleportation magitech, we don’t know, and we’re trying to find out,” Sucy said. “Haven’t you noticed that Diana’s been acting REALLY strangely, lately? Doing things that seem very unlike her? Or at least, the one we know…?”

Hannah and Barbara stared at her in silence, their eyes slowly widening in realization, the hall now so quiet you could faintly hear the sound of Diana moaning as she had her breasts and clit toyed with.

She panted and shook as Akko circled her nails around her nipples and her clit, the sharp tips and the intense heat prickling the sensitive skin, gasping and stiffening every time she flicked them with her thumbs and sent intense surges of dragon-fire straight into them, bringing her leaps and bounds closer to another orgasm.

“ _You want me to speed up again?”_ Akko asked.

“ _No, this pace is_ more _than fine, Akko,”_ Diana replied, thick layers of frost spreading out from her palms and all over the walls.

“ _You sure? Whatever it is Sucy gave you looks like it’s PRETTY painful if you don’t cum soon enough.”_

Diana chuckled shakily, smoke, fire, and red-pink fumes leaking out of her mouth. _“Akko, that drug wore off a while back; I’m just_ enjoying myself _now,_ _while we’ve already got privacy and are in the mood for it. Do you want to stop?”_

Akko thought about it for a moment. _“Nope!”_

“ _Then let’s keep going~”_ Diana purred.

“So how long are going to just lock them in there?” Hannah asked.

“For as long as it takes for the potion to finish its job,” Sucy replied.

“Which would about when…?” Barbara asked.

“I don’t know.” Sucy replied.

“What do you mean, ‘you don’t know?’” Hannah snapped.

Sucy sighed. “Look, I’m aware that for combat supports like yourselves, you think alchemy is always a _very_ precise art where the measurements and procedures have to be as accurate and faithful to the recipe as possible, but things get pretty messy, vague, and haphazard when experimenting with new potions.

“This is _especially_ true when you’re potentially dealing with extradimensional beings who may not follow the same rules as everyone else in your realm.”

“Okay, we get that, but what the hell is that potion supposed to do so you can find out if that’s really Diana?” Barbara asked.

As if on cue, Diana let out another sharp, ear-piercing scream, one that had Sucy’s ear-fins folding once more, and Barbara and Hannah wincing, too.

“Do you _really_ want to know...?” Sucy asked.

Barbara and Hannah frowned uneasily. “If that’s the real Diana, you better not have fucked her up too badly with whatever it is you gave her!” Hannah snapped.

“You say that as if she hasn’t suffered incredibly terrible things on a near-daily basis, and came out of them mostly fine,” Sucy replied.

Barbara and Hannah glared at her, before they finally left. Sucy and Amanda discretely watched them round the corner, and when it seemed like they weren’t coming back, Amanda pried herself off the door and started stretching her limbs.

“ _Mithros,_ that was close...” Amanda muttered. “Where’d you get the idea to bullshit them about alternate versions of Akko and Diana, though?”

“It’s a _long_ story,” Sucy replied, before she pulled up her comm-crystal. “How long are you two going to be banging in there?” she typed.

After a minute with no response or even a “Read” notice, Sucy groaned. “Amanda, stay here and guard the door,” she muttered as she started to slither off.

“Wait, where are you going?” Amanda asked.

“To a vending machine for supplies, where else? We’re probably going to be camping here all night,” Sucy grumbled.

Amanda’s face fell. “… Oh, right…” she said, before she casually leaned against the door once more, ears open for the sounds of anyone coming into the hallway, and consequently, the sounds of hot rider-on-dragon action coming from inside the closet.

She pulled out her comm-crystal. “Can you get me some Crystal Crunchies?”

“ _Fuck you,_ you’re getting a bag of Tinnies.”

Amanda sighed, and returned to awkwardly guarding the door, wincing as Diana loudly let her know she was in the throes of yet _another_ orgasm.

Diana’s legs shook and her hands started to slide down the wall as her pussy gushed and spilled all over the floor and Akko yet again. She started to fall forward, limp, before Akko caught her and pulled her back up.

“ _You okay?”_ Akko asked, before she kissed Diana on the cheek.

“ _I feel_ **AMAZING!”** Diana replied, her eyes hazy, her tongue hanging out in a pant, drool and smoke spilling out of her mouth.

“ _You want to stop now?”_

“ _No. Can we fuck some more, please?”_

“ _Sure~ And I’ve got just the idea, too!”_ Akko replied, sending Diana a mental image of what it was exactly.

Diana let out a breathless, excited giggle. _“Do it, please~!”_

Akko turned Diana around to face her, leaned back against the wall before she slowly lowered them down to the floor, Diana straddling her chest and leaking arousal all over her skin and scales. _“You ready?”_ Akko asked as she put her claws on her hips.

“ _Ready.”_

Akko lifted her up, pulling Diana’s pussy right up to her face, Diana slumped forward and braced herself against the wall, moaning and shivering as she felt Akko’s hot breath on her pussy, the incredible heat still radiating from her body.

Akko pressed her mouth onto Diana’s pussy, her long, serpentine tongue slowly slithering out from between her teeth and teasingly pressing itself against her folds, whipping upwards and pumping in another surge of dragon-fire. Diana stiffened and cried out, moaning and panting as she waited for Akko to continue…

“… _Akko…?”_ Diana asked.

Akko pulled Diana’s pussy off her face. _“Diana: whatever it is Sucy gave you made you taste like pickled plum Fireki’s.”_

Diana blinked. _“Is that a_ good _or a_ bad _thing..?”_

“ _Let me show you!”_ Akko replied, before pulled Diana’s pussy back on her face, hungrily lapping and slurping up every last drop of arousal she leaked, stopping to suck on and toy with her clit, or letting all that hot, sweet-sour tasting mess all pour out onto her tongue, into her mouth, down her lips, past her cheeks, and dribbling all over her chest, bursts of dragon-fire surging into Diana all the while.

“ _A-aah!_ _A-Akko...~!”_ Diana gasped, her breath coming in frantic, shallow pants.

(Outside, Sucy returned with a bag of mushroom chips for her, Tinnies for Amanda, and water for the both of them.)

Akko intensified her assault, her tongue prodding and pressing against Diana’s pussy lips before it darted in, swirling all around her soft, silky inner walls, before it started slipping further and further in, curling back in an upwards motion, till she found a little rough patch amidst it all.

Diana choked, her eyes shooting wide open, shaking and gasping as Akko licked it again, and _again_ , and _**again**_ _,_ surge after surge of intense, concentrated dragon-fire running up her spine.

(Amanda thanked Sucy for the Tinnies, ripped the package open, and shoved them into her mouth. Two chews in, she stopped and gagged. “Aww, these Tinnies _suck!”_

“Deal with it,” Sucy grumbled as she dug into her chips.)

Akko pressed her tongue right up against Diana’s g-spot, pressing it flat and circling it round and round, stopping long enough to let Diana take a gasp of breath, before she was having her choking and shaking once more.

“ _Aa_ _h!_ _A-A-Akko_ _ooo_ _…!”_ Diana whimpered, right before she _came._

(Sucy winced yet again, Amanda choked on the water she was drinking. “Ugh, I am _so_ glad Akko moved out...” Sucy muttered as Amanda coughed and spluttered.)

Diana’s arousal gushed from her pussy, flooding Akko’s mouth, pouring down her throat, cascading down her cheeks and her chin, soaking her hair, growing the already _massive_ puddle on the floor. Akko reeled her tongue back into her mouth and started gulping down as much of it as she could, thirstily lapping at Diana’s pussy lips as her orgasm started to weaken.

(Amanda sniffed, and sniffed again. “Is that… _is that Fireki’s…?”_ she whispered.

“Probably a side effect of the pill,” Sucy replied. “There was a LOT of raw material concentrated in it, and the delay mechanism was based on the ‘bubble-wrap’ technique.”

Amanda stared at her.

“Alchemy is weird, okay?”)

Diana moaned as she slumped against the wall, completely limp, sweat pouring down her skin, her hair soaked and sticking to her body, steam and smoke trickling from her mouth, a _very_ satisfied look on her face.

Akko kept holding her up to lap up some more of the mess from her thighs and pussy, before she slowly, carefully lowered Diana till she was comfortably sprawled out over Akko, her face buried in her shoulder. The two of them locked eyes, Akko leaned up and kissed Diana on her forehead.

“I love you, Diana,” she said.

Incapable of making coherent words or thoughts, Diana just sent a _whole_ lot of love, gratitude, and affection her way through their Bond.

They snuggled up together, Akko protectively wrapping her wings around Diana, Diana smiling as she quickly fell asleep, enjoying the warmth still radiating from Akko’s body, the mix of soft skin and rough scales on her own skin.

A few minutes later, Sucy banged on the door, and opened it a crack. “Oh my fucking _gods_ , _please_ tell me you two are done fucking each other stupid!” she hissed.

“We are!” Akko whispered back. “But, uh, Diana’s passed out, I ripped up all of her clothes, and there’s a HUGE mess we can’t just leave here, so...”

Sucy sucked in a deep breath, and let out a long, heavy sigh. “I’ll help on one condition: you tell me and Amanda if you and Diana’s first”--she made a seductive dragon sound--”was in the Forest.”

Akko blushed, hesitated for a moment, before she said, “Ah, yeah… it was in the Forest.”

“Welp, at least there’s ONE good thing that came out of this…!” Sucy grumbled. She turned to Amanda and waved her comm-crystal in front of hers. “You’re paying me back for all this shit you’re going to need to buy next, _plus_ the ten grand, got it?”

Amanda’s face fell. “Do you take installments…?”

“Yes, now _move,”_ Sucy growled, before she shut the closet door once more.

Just before the dinner rush ended and students and faculty went back to their dorms, or their evening classes and exercises, Akko, Amanda, Sucy, and Diana snuck back to the Celestial Spires, no one the wiser.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I commissioned fanart of Diana riding Akko. Bond Tattoos not shown as they were too difficult for the time/price range. 
> 
> http://68.media.tumblr.com/483b40f8c72573c416221c7611901793/tumblr_ox5ca5Wn1H1uhpvceo3_1280.jpg
> 
> Art by oletarts.tumblr.com
> 
> P.S. How do you guys like the fact that Akko and Diana constantly communicate during (seductive dragon sound)? I’ve always wondered how people talk the frequent breaks in action for dialog and check-ins, considering that it’s explicitly stated that the Bond could do all that without the words.
> 
> I still think it’s a pretty nice gesture to still say or “think” it out loud, though. Do you?


	10. Chapter 10

**Wednesday, Morning**

Diana woke up in her bed, dressed in one of her nightgowns, _keenly_ aware of Akko on a chair beside her, leaning in and staring at her with wide, smouldering, nearly unblinking eyes.

“Morning Diana!” Akko said. “How do you feel?”

Diana groaned. **“** **Terrible.** My vagina feels like a steak that’s just been brutally, _thoroughly_ tenderized, then flame roasted to _very_ well-done...”

“I’m assuming that’s a bad thing?”

“VERY bad thing, Akko...”

Akko nodded. “You mind if I ask you if it was worth it?”

Diana paused. “Let’s see… was all that hot, passionate, wild fucking in a closet worth being secretly drugged, suffering the wrath of that _damned_ aphrodisiac for who knows how long, and finally learning the truly _awful_ taste of those pickled plums you love so much…?”

She smiled. “Yes. Yes it was.”

Akko beamed right back.

Diana frowned. “Oh, Mithros—Akko, could you help me to the bathroom? And get some more Lady’s Lifesaver, if you haven’t already.”

“Can do~!” Akko chirped, before she effortlessly lifted Diana up into her arms. She yelped in pain as her sore body didn’t take kindly to being moved, but the intense heat radiating from Akko’s claws went a long way into soothing it.

“ _Goodness_ _, that potion is still going strong in your system, huh?”_ Diana thought.

“Mhmm!” Akko responded out loud. “It gave me SO much energy! Even after I fucked your brains out in the closet, I could still jerk off several dozen times after we got you back here, _and_ got so much other shit done, and so fast, too!”

“… _Akko, how many hours of sleep did you get last night?”_

“ _None!”_ Akko chirped. “I’ve been completely, absolutely awake since I took the Akko-A-Go-Go, and honestly, it feels fucking _amazing.”_ She chuckled, making a sound like the rumbles of a volcano just before erupting, her eyes and limbs twitching and her body radiating more heat in lieu of the ground shaking.

_Beat._

“… _Akko, where’s Sucy, and is she busy today?”_

“She and Amanda crashed in the guest lounge, and no, she’s not!”

“ _Good. As soon as she’s awake, please ask her to either neutralize the potion, or get as much of it out of your system as possible.”_

“She told me to tell you that she wants to find out how long it’ll take for me to come off it it naturally.”

“ _Then please tell her that I’m exercising my authority as your Bonded partner, and that my concerns over your health override her scientific curiosity.”_

“Will do, then!” Akko replied as she stepped into their bathroom.

By the time she was carrying her back out, Sucy and Amanda were up and at their kitchen, the former making notes and observations on her comm-crystal, the latter raiding their cupboards. “Oh, hey there Diana, Akko!” Amanda said, poking her head out of a shelf and sparing a claw for a moment to greet them. “You guys don’t mind if I mooch some food off you guys, right? I’m kinda broke and _seriously_ in debt right now...”

Diana sighed as Akko helped her to a chair. “Just so long as you don’t consume any of the silverware or the crystal goblets,” she said as Akko left for their fridge. “Those happen to be beloved heirlooms from my family estate, some of the few things I’ve saved from my aunt’s clutches.”

Amanda stopped, and slowly, sheepishly peered out of their cupboard. “… Ah, shit, the forks that have what kinda look like a unicorn horn in the middle wouldn’t happen to be those, would they…?”

Diana’s eyes widened, before they narrowed in a glare.

“… Sorry...” Amanda muttered. “One of them was kinda laying there on the floor, and I was _super_ hungry...”

“My bad, sorry!” Akko said as she rummaged through their fridge.

“Uh, you’re not going to make me try and pay that back, are you?” Amanda asked. “I mean, I’m not saying I wouldn’t if I could, it’s just right now, I really… you know… _can’t.”_

Diana groaned and tilted her head back. “You know what, let’s make a deal: you don’t eat any more of my family’s ever dwindling valuables, and neither you nor Sucy speak a word of the events of last night, including whatever revelations you two had, and I will absolve you of all your wrongdoings and offenses towards myself and Akko.”

Amanda blinked. “… Uh…?”

“She said if you shut up about last night, and the fact that me and Diana are fucking now, she’ll let everything you did to us slide,” Akko explained as she returned with a bowl of cereal for Diana—Cornucopia Clusters.

“Please note this is merely _forgiveness,_ not _forgetting,”_ Diana growled as Akko poured milk into it from a pitcher.

“Deal,” Amanda said, coming out of the closet with a handful of flint rocks.

“Good,” Diana said as she put her spoon into her bowl. “Sucy?”

Sucy looked up from her work. “Hey, if you want to undercut yourself for my benefit, who am I to complain? Deal.”

Diana ignored the first part. “Thank you, Sucy, and on a completely different topic: Akko?” she asked before she took a bite of her cereal.

“Diana wants you to get the Akko-A-Go-Go out of my system,” Akko said.

Sucy’s eyes widened, before she frowned. “Aww, c’mon, Diana! This is valuable data we could be missing out on! Do you know how useful it is, to have a potion that can turbo charge Akko when we need it?”

Diana chewed her cereal and swallowed, before she said, “I’d rather she not die of overtaxing her heart, than have a good contingency plan should we have an important deadline looming over us and far tool little time.”

Sucy sighed heavily. “Fine… Akko, head to the bathroom, Diana, I need to raid this place for supplies,” she said as she got off the table and slithered off.

“Take whatever you need, unless looks like some sort of artefact!” Diana called out. “And before I forget: I _better_ not have learned that you spread the news about my and Akko’s relationship so you could collect from everyone else that threw their lot in with that _damned_ bet!” she said before she spooned some more cereal into her mouth.

“You’re _really s_ erious about keeping your and Akko’s being girlfriends now a secret, huh?” Amanda said as she broke up the flint into pieces, before throwing them into her mouth like chips.

Diana glared at her as she chewed. "Yes, yes I am,” she said after she swallowed. "I don't suppose you'd understand my reasons, seeing as you've never had a family legacy to uphold and live up to."

_Crunch._ Little sparks flew out of Amanda’s jaws. "Hey: us O'Neill's got our own rep we live up to, it just isn't as hoity-toity as yours," she said, pointing a nail at her. "Getting back on topic: I think you’re _seriously_ overestimating just how much Stratos-at-large is going to feel about you and Akko"-- she made a seductive dragon sound.

"And what makes you so confident about that?" Diana asked as put her spoon down.

"'Cause I know a Rider-Dragon couple just like you two, and after a week or two of blitz coverage and round-the-clock gossip, most everyone stopped caring and moved onto the next new thing."

"And who would this couple be…?”

"Ah, the dragon's, what's her name...?” Amanda muttered, little bits of ground up rock falling out of her mouth. “White? Whitney? Ainz?”

"Weiss? Weiss Schnee?" Diana offered.

Amanda snapped her nails. "Yeah, her! You know, now that I really think about it, it's actually kinda _scary_ how similar you two are."

Diana sighed. "I don’t mean to discount her grandparents’ achievements and contributions to Stratos, but her family legacy is not _nearly_ as long, storied, and consequential as that of mine," she said as she brought a spoonful of cereal to her mouth. “However similar we may seem superficially, I’m certain the commonalities cease the moment you get into the specifics.”

"Pfft, however you 'upper class' rate each other on your pecking order, you and her are still the same to the rest of us: rich bitches from noteworthy names, who happened to be Bound to, then started banging their 'commoner' partners.”

Diana’s crunching got a little bit louder. “Why do you suddenly have such a huge interest in my and Akko’s love-life, Amanda?” she asked after she swallowed. “You’re already well aware you’ve lost your wager and Sucy has come to collect, has she not?”

Amanda shrugged. “Eh, I feel bad for what I put you through last night, and more than that, you two work with my company so much you may as well have been hired full-time; better to butt heads at base, than break Links on the battlefield, right?” she smiled.

Diana relaxed and nodded. “Right.”

“And I’m just saying, I really don’t think you and Akko will have anything to worry about if you go public with you two. Sure, there’ll be a fuss at first, and you’ll probably hear the sounds of hundreds of thousands of hearts breaking and hopes being dashed to the ground all at once, but no one’ll make too much of a stink of it, unless you two do something like fuck in the middle of the Sorcerer’s Square, get caught making out in the background when a camera pans over to you two, or start talking to each other in gooey-girlfriend talk _all_ the time.

“Akko and you make a good couple—and that’s not just because the”--she made a seductive dragon sound--”is obviously so _incredibly_ hot.”

Diana blushed, and resumed eating her cereal with renewed, intense focus.

Amanda just shrugged, and returned to her flint, before she excused herself to attend to the duties she’d shirked due to last night’s misadventure. Some time after, Sucy slithered in with a humanoid Akko limply dangling from one of her mouths. Diana’s eyebrows rose and her mouth fell into a concerned frown as she saw how dull Akko’s eyes and Bond tattoos were, felt the misery and unwell vibes skulking in from the Bond.

Diana abandoned her cereal and got up, wincing as pain shot up from between her legs. “ _Mithros_ , what happened?” she asked as she hobbled over with a hand on the table for support.

“Exactly what you asked: the Akko-A-Go-Go’s gone,” Sucy replied as she set Akko down into a chair.

“Uggghhh...” Akko groaned as she sank into her seat.

Diana came over and felt Akko’s forehead: cold, clammy, and damp with sweat. “Oh, Akko, you poor thing...”

“Just saying, if you’d let the potion run its course, she’d have probably slept right through the worst of the crash,” Sucy said.

Diana glared at her, before she turned back to Akko. “Is there anything I can do for you? Water? Food?”

“Bed,” Akko mumbled. “Snoozes and snuggles, please.”

“And snoozes and snuggles you will get,” Diana cooed. She turned to Sucy. “Err, Sucy…?”

Sucy sighed. “Fine, fine… but I’m not tucking either of you in.”

“No need to, Sucy, and thank you.”

Sucy picked them back up and carried them to Diana’s bed, before she slithered on out of their room. Shivering and whimpering, Akko reached out and clung onto Diana, burying her face in her chest as her wings wrapped around them both like a leathery blanket. Diana hugged back and stroked her hair, whispering and cooing sweet words until Akko fell asleep.

She was restless and shivering for a while, but with a calming pulse from Diana’s magic, blue energy spreading across her body like a ripple and back, she was still and breathing easily.

Diana smiled and kissed her on her forehead, before she reached down between them and activated her comm-crystal. As the holograms formed in front of her face, she started using the eye-tracking function to do some research.

As Amanda had said, interest in the new relationship between Weiss Schnee (heiress to the Schnee Rune Company) and her partner, Ruby Rose (a no-name Autana from some tiny island somewhere in the Expanse, before the Fates brought and Bound her and Weiss together) caused quite the stir in Amarok.

There was a massive amount of articles and commentary about them, professional and amateur, especially because of the rather _violent_ reaction of Weiss’ father and the current CEO of the SRC, Jacques Schnee. (Her bile rising like whenever she heard of her aunt Daryl’s latest escapades, she quickly threw out the articles related to him, and told the Fountainhead to stop bringing him up until further notice.)

It was all their continent could talk about for weeks… but just like a boulder crashing into a lake, after the initial splash and the waves it made, the ripples disappeared, the water calmed, and the locals forgot about the rock as it sank and came to rest at the bottom.

There was news about them still, yes, but their relationship tended to be a piece of unimportant trivia compared to what they and their associates were up to over in Beacon. Like Akko and herself, trouble just seemed to be attracted to them like a magnet, or alternately, they, too, couldn’t help but run or fly straight into it at every possible opportunity.

She read a few more reports and accounts of their escapades, before she shut off her comm-crystal.

“ _Should I really keep on hiding_ _my_ _relationship with Akko?”_ she thought. Putting aside the Fates being so insistent on exposing them as they seemed to be with Weiss and Ruby, was there _really_ any good reason to?

The Cavendish name was either in a downward spiral to obscurity, a matter of the history books, or a marketing tactic used by her aunt when she sold off even more of the valuables and artefacts they had acquired or been gifted throughout the years. Even if publicly revealing her relationship with Akko caused a scandal, well, there really wasn’t much to lose and not too far to fall, was there...?

And really, she would rather start over all over again with restoring her family name, if it meant getting others to accept that Akko was the one she loved, treat her as more than just a teenage dalliance.

She looked down at Akko’s sleeping form, smiling and muttering from time to time, thin trails of steam pouring out of her nostrils, a little bit of warm drool trickling from her mouth. Did Diana really want to have all of her intimate and affectionate moments with Akko _exclusively_ in private, pretending they weren’t together and putting up an act in public, constantly fearful of being discovered…?

Diana closed her eyes, and started thinking.

* * *

**Wednesday, Evening**

Amanda, Constanze, Jasminka, Barbara, Hannah, Lotte, and Sucy all sat at the table in the center of Akko and Diana’s room, the one meant for either formal dinners or military-style meetings. Casual chatter and theories about what was going on filled the air, until Diana rose from her seat and gestured for silence.

All eyes and ears were on her as she began to speak.

“I’d like to thank you all for coming on such short notice,” Diana started. “I know that it’s asking a lot of you all, especially because of how intentionally sparse I was on the details about the ‘very important news’ I had for you all.

“And for that reason, I won’t dally any longer and just tell you all outright.”

She turned to Akko, and reached out to her.

Hannah and Barbara’s eyes widened, Lotte gasped, cupped her claws over her face, and watched with wide eyes, Jasminka slowed down her shoving chips into her mouth, Constanze eyebrows rose, Amanda smiled, while Sucy looked as mildly disinterested as ever.

Hand-in-claw, Diana turned back to to the others, and said: “Akko and I are dating now.”

Lotte screamed, freaking out or annoying the others, save for Hannah and Barbara who seemed to be in a state of stunned shock. “Sorry!” she said. “And congratulations, you two!”

“Thanks, Lotte!” Akko said.

“And for the purposes of whoever else of you wagered about when we’d get together, _yes,_ it was during our time in the Forest.”

Constanze looked at Diana, wordlessly asking, “And…?”

“That’s all we wanted to say, and you girls to know,” Diana said. “If you have any questions or reactions, we’ll be happy to entertain them; if you don’t, you’re free to leave, and again, thank you for coming.”

Constanze grumbled, looking annoyed as she stalked off.

“Sorry to say you lost that bet, Amanda,” Lotte said as she pulled out her comm-crystal, and transferred some funds over to Sucy.

“Eh, it’s fine,” Amanda shrugged, “I already knew since last night.”

Lotte’s eyebrows rose.

“It’s a _long_ story, ask Diana and Akko,” Sucy said as she pulled out her comm-crystal, smiling as she fiddled with it. “Hey, speaking of you two, you mind signing this so I can collect all my winnings?” she said as she projected a hologram towards Akko and Diana. “I need proof.”

Diana sighed and rolled her eyes, before she and Akko signed it.

Barbara and Hannah finally recovered from the shock. “W-Wait, you and Akko are _together_ now?” Hannah asked.

“Like, ‘girlfriends’ together?” Barbara added.

“Yes, Barbara, Hannah, like ‘girlfriends’ together,” Diana replied. “If you two have any issues with my and Akko’s relationship, just name a time and a place and you can say whatever it is you need to say.”

“N-No, we don’t have a problem with you and Akko being together!” Hannah sputtered. “I just, I mean, it’s kinda, but--”

“Are you and Akko really _our_ Diana and Akko?” Barbara blurted. “You’re not some doppelgangers or alternate versions stuck in the wrong reality, are you?”

Hannah looked like she was trying to figure out sputter out an excuse, before she gave up and looked as intently at Diana as Barbara was.

Diana stared back at them, confused, her mouth slowly falling open. “… No, I’m _quite_ sure Akko and myself are the correct versions of ourselves for this particular reality… where in the _realm_ did you get such an idea?”

“My fault,” Sucy said, “they decided to investigate last night, and I needed to throw them off the trail.”

Diana turned bright red. “A-Ah… I see.”

Barbara and Hannah frowned, and looked at Sucy. “Then what was really going on in there…?”

“Gee, what do you think…?” Amanda asked back, smiling.

Diana blushed even harder as realization came over Hannah and Barbara’s faces, their own cheeks flaming red, too. Voices too low and mumbled to be audible, they got up and left.

Jasminka reached into her pockets and pulled out a candy-coated wafer. “Do you two want to split it and share it? It’s a custom back in my homeland!”

“Oooh, don’t mind if we do!” Akko said as she reached out and took it.

“You hold an end, break it together, then feed your piece to the other! Try and get an even split, that’s _extra_ good luck!”

Diana and Akko did just that, but the wafer was more fragile then they though, and a good chunk of the middle broke off and fell to the floor, leaving them both with small, jagged pieces.

“Oh my...” Jasminka said, frowning.

“What’s this mean?” Akko asked.

“Well, it’s not an omen or a curse, exactly, but the legend says you two should be wary of rough times ahead!” Jasminka explained.

Diana chuckled. “Well, it isn’t as if stormy weather isn’t moving back over our lives already, right?” she said as she held her piece over to Akko’s mouth.

“Eh, we’ll be fine,” Akko replied as she did the same to Diana, smiling. “Through storms and strife, peace and prosperity, then, now, and to the end of our days…?”

Diana smiled back. “Together, we ride.”

They didn’t quite know nor even begin to guess at how much more chaotic and catastrophic things were going to get from then on out… but for the moment, there were just a rider and her dragon in love, savouring the sweetness of the candy they shared, and the freeing feeling of being out with their relationship—if only to their closest friends, for now.

“Got any plans for how you’re going to go full public with this, Diana?” Akko asked later that night, as the two of them lay together in Diana’s bed. “Andrew’s speaking at that big fancy ball in a couple of months, I think we can ask him for a favour and let you have the mic for a while.”

“In time, Akko, in time,” Diana hummed as she felt leathery wings wrap around her, two warm claws slip onto her stomach, soothing heat ward away the last of the aches of last night. “For now, I just want to enjoy a quiet, peaceful night in with my girlfriend...”

“Okay,” Akko hummed as she nestled her face into Diana’s hair. “Goodnight, Diana. I love you.”

Diana smiled and closed her eyes. “Goodnight, Akko. I love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End. Thank you for joining on this wild, insane ride; I hadn't known I was going to make a sequel to Burning Desire, but just like the Keeper of the Grove, this short project spiraled into something much larger and deeper than I could have ever imagined.
> 
> Yes, that was Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose from RWBY, and at some point, I'm going to delve in what's going on in Amarok, how these two couples meet up, and antics like Weiss and Diana starting the "Stratos Thirsty Bitches Society," and Akko and Ruby discussing their shared love of Shiny Chariot, how she played a key role in helping them discover their sexuality, and how Akko's Chariot poster has seen WAY too much. 
> 
> If you're wondering about physical distance, they're in the next continent over, about the distance between Finland and South Africa, and the one Diana and Akko are in is "Renara."


End file.
